Girls volleyball: Kaneland wins 14th straight, stays perfect in conference
As the Kaneland volleyball team continues its second time through the Northern Illinois Big XII East schedule, Katie Jablonski - one of the Knights' eight seniors - said it's hard to beat a team twice.
DeKalb might beg to differ following a thrashing at the hands of a veteran and talented Kaneland squad. It took the Knights a little over a half an hour for a 25-10, 25-13 victory at Harter Middle School in Sugar Grove - not all that much different from a 25-14, 25-9 victory in the first meeting.
It was the 14th straight win for Kaneland (22-4, 7-0) who has yet to lose a set in conference play. The Knights have three conference games remaining against Sycamore, Morris and Yorkville on senior night.
"We're just connecting really well and playing really consistent," said Jablonski, who had 5 kills Thursday.
"We have such good team chemistry. We've known each other forever. We're really good all-around. We do a lot of drills for passing, serving, serve-receive. We all work together so well."
Sydney Fedderly is another of those eight seniors. She led both teams with 7 kills.
Kaneland hasn't lost since Sept. 4 against Rock Falls. The Knights' other losses came to 4A schools Benet, Glenbard West and West Aurora.
"It's going really well, a lot of fun, good senior year," Fedderly said. "We've been playing together a long time and everybody keeps each other up. We mesh really well, the underclassmen that came up fit in with us. Everything is working really well for us now."
A year after being bumped up to Class 4A for the postseason where the Knights were matched against eventual state qualifier St. Charles North in the regional semifinals, Kaneland is back in 3A.
The Knights found out Thursday they got the third seed in its subsectional behind Sterling and Rock Falls.
They wasted little time taking control against DeKalb. Fedderly connected on a set from Shelby Hannula and put down a kill on the first point.
Lauren Steers followed with another kill, Jablonski had a block and Fedderly tipped a winner. Grace Vranicar, who served the first 7 points, followed with an ace, and the lead eventually swelled to 13-1.
It didn't get much more competitive in the second set. After falling behind 2-0, Kaneland scored 6 straight that included an ace from Julianna Vassalio, two blocks from Fedderly and a couple DeKalb mistakes.
Grace Franz, who had 6 kills for Kaneland, got the Knights to match point before the Barbs were called for a violation on the following play to end the quick match.
"I like their confidence," Kaneland coach Cyndi Violett said. "They bond well, they get along well as a team. Their ability to never give up and always go for something, if I just stick my hand out hopefully I'll get it. That's the biggest thing with this team. They don't want to ever give up which is a good thing to have."