Jacobs has some fun against Hampshire
The Jacobs girls volleyball team warmed up for the postseason by having lots of fun Thursday evening.
The Golden Eagles were all smiles after a 25-13, 25-17 victory over host Hampshire in a Fox Valley Conference crossover match.
“I feel like I wish we could have gotten a couple more wins,” Jacobs coach Lisa Dwyer said. “We did go through a couple injuries. We learned a lot and we’re definitely a better team than at the beginning.”
Jacobs (20-15) is the No. 5 seed in the Class 4A Dundee-Crown regional and will play No. 4 Cary-Grove on Monday in the regional quarterfinals. No. 3 Prairie Ridge and No. 6 Dundee-Crown play in the other regional quarterfinal. Thirty-plus match winners Crystal Lake South and Crystal Lake Central await the winners in the semifinals Tuesday. All are members of the Fox Valley Conference.
“We have a very tough conference. It (stinks) that we all have to be together again on Monday,” Dwyer said. “Central and South are playing (Thursday) and possibly play again next week — possibly. Regional time, you never know what could happen.”
The Golden Eagles never trailed Thursday after falling behind 3-2 early in the opening game against the Whip-Purs (11-23). Jacobs led 14-8 and then went on a 7-0 run, which included 2 aces from Bridget Wallenberger. A block from Allie Campbell gave the Golden Eagles a 24-9 lead. Hampshire saved 4 game points before a lifting violation gave Jacobs the opening-game victory.
The second game was tied at 4-4 before the Golden Eagles again went on a 7-0 to take control. They led 19-10, but Hampshire scored 7 consecutive points to get within 2, 19-17. Jacobs scored the final 6 points of the match. Back-to-back aces from Ester Onate made it 24-17 and Kyla Fitzsimmons’ eighth kill ended the match.
“We were a little bit off all around,” Whip-Purs coach Andrew Lindley said. “We, collectively as a team, struggled tonight. Kind of had all of our off nights together.”
Wallenberger added 5 kills for Jacobs. Mackie Traub finished with 19 assists. Onate had 4 aces.
Erin Foss and Kyla Conway each had 2 kills to lead the Whip-Purs.