Girls volleyball: Sterling ends Kaneland's record-breaking season
Kaneland simply ran into a buzz saw.
Sterling, 38-1, needed only 39 minutes to dispose of the Knights 25-18, 25-18 to win the 3A Woodstock North sectional Wednesday night,
The Knights, who end the season with a school-record 34 wins against 5 losses, entered the match with 24 straight wins.
"We had an outstanding season," said Kaneland coach Cyndi Violett. "We are losing 8 great seniors who have won a lot of matches. Sterling is an outstanding team. We had some good runs but could never get anything going on a consistent basis."
The Golden Warriors, winners of 35 straight home matches, play the supersectional in Sterling Friday night at 7 p.m. against Morton. Morton defeated LaSalle-Peru 22-25, 25-21, 25-21 to win the Chillicothe sectional.
"We have been thinking about playing in the supersectionals at home since July," said Sterling coach Dale Dykeman. "It has motivated this team. With the 35-match home streak we have a definite home court advantage. We really relish the opportunity to play at home with a chance to make it to the state finals."
Kaneland's Katie Jablonski, a 4-year starter who eclipsed the 1,000 kill barrier, ended her career as a Knight with 11 kills, 4 blocks and 2 aces.
"Katie was a great player and we won a lot of matches in her 4-year career," said Violett. "She will be missed along with other 7 seniors."
Grace Franz added 8 kills, 2 aces and 4 blocks while Shelby Hannula dished out 12 set assists for the Knights.
Sterling's balanced offensive attack was guided by Bree Borum with 12 kills, 4 blocks and 3 aces. Josi Borum added 7 kills and Grace Gould contributed 5 kills.
"I like the way we came out in the first game very aggressively with great focus," said Dykeman.
"We were aggressive at the net and we did a good job of blocking 10 and 11 (Jablonski, Franz). They are great hitters and we did a good job on them on the block. We never lost focus throughout the whole match."
In Game 1, the Golden Warriors seized control early with a 7-2 lead courtesy of 4 kills from Bree Borum.
Sterling's biggest lead was 17-7 after a kill by Gould.
Kaneland battled back and climbed within 22-18 on a kill by Sarah Lakomek.
The Knights couldn't get any closer as the Golden Warriors scored the final 3 points capped by a block by Jaylynn Razo to take a 1-0 lead in the match.
There were 8 lead changes in Game 2 with Kaneland leading 16-15 on a kill by Jablonski.
Sterling dominated the rest of the game outscoring the Knights 10-2 to end the match capped by a kill by Bree Borum.