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Girls volleyball: Bartlett beats South Elgin to tighten UEC race

After watching his team drop the opening set to South Elgin, Bartlett girls volleyball coach Bob Schwantz offered some words of wisdom to the Hawks' players.

"I just said, 'Girls, it's the best two out of three - you've got to forget it happened,'" said Schwantz.

Bartlett (18-8, 6-2) did exactly that, rolling to a 25-16 win in the second set before pulling out a 25-21 victory in the decisive third set, handing the host Storm (20-7, 7-1) its first Upstate Eight Conference loss.

"It felt like they beat us a lot on the tip in the first game," said Schwantz. "We were able to adjust to that. My libero (Kirsten Munar) was scooping those up."

In the second set, the Hawks received superb performances from sophomore Maddie Hankins (16 kills, 16 digs, 2 aces) and freshman Bria Lomax (11 kills, 7 blocks).

"I think just having a lot of energy and bringing each other up when we were down got us to work together more," said Hankins, who added 6 kills in the third set.

Bartlett used an 11-0 run to take a commanding 14-3 lead in the second set, thanks in part to a 10-point service run from Bella Diaz (10 kills, 11 digs).

The third set featured 7 ties, the last coming at 18-18 before a Diaz kill put the Hawks in the lead for good at 19-18.

Moments later, Lomax added a kill to give Bartlett a 22-20 lead and Diaz followed suit with a kill of her own to make it 23-20.

After a South Elgin hitting error extended the margin to 24-20, the Storm fought off 1 match point on a kill from freshman Alyssa Worden before another kill from Diaz sealed the decision for the Hawks.

"This is a huge win for us because they were 7-0 (in conference)," said Hankins. "Beating them brings us together."

Senior setter Dakota Johnson recorded 31 assists while Munar added 20 digs as the Hawks recorded one of their biggest wins of the season while spoiling South Elgin's Senior Night.

"We got contributions from everyone," said Schwantz. "I'm super proud of them. It's huge. We're now 6-2 in conference. They're (Storm) now 7-1 and if they lose to Glenbard East next week while we beat Elgin, you never know - it could be a big, old cluster at the top. We might all be sharing conference."

Seniors Angie Negron (13 kills, 22 digs) and Allison Cunniffe (31 assists, 20 digs) paced South Elgin, supported by junior Brooke Elders (7 kills) and sophomore libero Maggie McGough (20 digs).

"Bartlett played really hard tonight," said Storm coach Joni Plach. "They were not making errors and they did not let the ball hit the ground. They were definitely a better team than us tonight.

"It was a good match. If we win next week, we're at least tied for conference (title). There is still light at the end of the tunnel."

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