Volleyball season comes to end with loss
By Jared Bell
IV Leader Sports Editor
The IVCC volleyball team might have played their best game
of the season in the Region IV Tournament semifinal in Grayslake, but their best
performance wasn’t enough as IVCC fell to the region’s No. 1 seed Kishwaukee
30-23, 30-14, 30-20 to end the Eagle’s season.
“My girls played the best volleyball they’ve played all
season, the best volleyball they’ve played all season,” IVCC coach Nicci Gibson
said. “They played awesome. It just happened we didn’t get the win.”
Kishwaukee (34-10) found open spots on the IVCC (10-20) side
of the floor all game long with their tips as well as their power game and some
crafty serving.
Liz Cannon led the Eagles with six kills, while Vanessa
Funfsinn recorded 17 assists. Allie Hougas added 19 digs and Trisha Kamphuis
chipped in 13 digs.
Early in the first set IVCC stayed close with the No. 1 seed
as each team battled to 9-9 before Kishwaukee maintained a modest one-point lead
to 12-11.
That would be as close as the two teams were the rest of the
set as Kishwaukee went on a 5-2 run to take a 17-13 lead before adding on two
more points to open their lead to 19-13. Three Kishwaukee kills and two blocks
helped spark the run.
IVCC tried to stay within striking distance in the set as a three-point run that
included a Cannon tip and two Kishwaukee misplays pulled the Eagles to 19-16.
But IVCC loss the serve and the next four points as Kishwaukee to a 23-16,
causing Gibson to call a timeout.
The timeout stopped the Kishwaukee run, but only for a point
as Kishwaukee chipped away until the 30th point, winning the first set 30-23 on
a kill by 6-2 middle hitter Jesse Schultz.
The second set was all Kishwaukee as they jumped out to a 3-2
lead before scoring eight straight points, including seven services, to cause
Gibson to call a timeout. Two aces helped spark the run.
The timeout did little to stop Kishwaukee as they tacked on
two more points to take a 13-2 lead.
IVCC pulled back to 14-8 after a Cannon tip and a Kishwaukee miscue, but
Kishwaukee all but put away IVCC with a 4-0 run to turn a 19-10 lead into a
23-10 advantage.
IVCC added four more points, but it was not enough as
Kishwaukee took the second set 30-14.
The third set was the closest of the three as IVCC lead early 3-2 before
surrendering a 4-3 lead. Kishwaukee’s lead buoyed from two to three points until
they took a 12-8 lead after a tip
Kishwaukee increased their advantage to 21-14 after three
straight IVCC mistakes. Kishwaukee needed little help from IVCC to finish the
Eagles off as a kill by Erin Bultinck and a block by Sarah Hawks gave Kishwaukee their
final two points and a 30-20 third-set win.
In her first season as head coach at IVCC, Gibson said it was
a good first go-around.
“We struggled at the beginning. I think we went 0-6 and towards the end we were
on a run of four wins in a row,” Gibson said. “So, we grew a ton over the season
and I just wish how we are right now at the beginning of the season.”