Girls volleyball: Kaneland closes in on conference crown

Whether it is practice time or a game day, Kaneland's girls volleyball team seemingly can't wait to get into the gym these days.

That happens when things are going your way,

The Knights (23-3, 6-0) moved a step closer to a Northern Illinois Big 12 East title with Thursday night's 25-18, 25-20 victory over DeKalb (13-7, 3-3) in Maple Park.

Extending their winning streak to 15, the Knights displayed a little bit of everything - strong serving, solid defense, tough blocking - and a great deal of confidence.

Senior outside hitter Jessica Weber led the way with 7 kills while sophomore outside hitter Katelyn Jablonski added 4 kills and 4 aces as the Knights continued their winning ways.

"We just push every game," said Weber. "Our practices are really focused. We're a really close-knit team and we play together.

"I've never been so in love with volleyball in my life. Just being with this team - it's amazing, especially for my senior year."

Already ahead 14-11 in the opening set, the Knights pulled away with a 6-0 run that included a kill from Jablonski, an ace from Julianna Vassallo, and numerous DeKalb miscues.

"We made way too many errors," said Barbs coach Jamie DiMaggio. "There were a lot of unforced errors, too. You can't do that against a team like that."

Kaneland jumped out to an 11-8 lead in the second set before DeKalb countered with 5 of the next 6 points, grabbing a 13-12 advantage on a powerful kill from junior Hannah Oehlberg (9 kills).

Moments later, another Oehlberg putdown gave the Barbs a 14-13 lead.

Kaneland tied it on DeKalb's fourth service error of the set, and then took the lead for good on a block by senior middle Alex Anderson (3 blocks) that ignited a 7-0 flurry.

Jablonski recorded a pair of aces during the run while Anderson and senior teammate Hannah Nauert (16 assists) combined for a key block as the Knights took a 20-14 lead.

After DeKalb fought to within 24-20 on a kill from Oehlberg, the Knights sealed the deal on a middle kill by senior Cameron Wyant (3 kills).

"They played well," said Knights coach Cynthia Violett. "They don't let things rattle them. They believe in themselves and they believe they're winners."

With the start of regional play less than 3 weeks away, Violett is pleased with her team's togetherness.

"They don't have those end-of-the-season blues," said the coach. "They don't want it to end.

"Tonight was huge for us because we've had a couple easy matches so you just don't know how you're going to come out after that but they were ready to play."

Jessica Nguyen sparked the defensive effort with a match-high 10 digs.

Jasmine Kemp added 8 kills and 2 blocks for DeKalb.

"They're a very confident team," DiMaggio said of the Knights. "I think that's something we're going to learn from this game and try to develop better ourselves."