By: The Lady Blues were riding high on Friday night until Lawrence mounted an unlikely comeback to clinch a 3-2 win in Sherman Gymnasium.
Box Score JACKSONVILLE, Ill. – Some losses sting a little bit more than others. Up 2-0 on Lawrence on Friday night, the Illinois College volleyball team was closing in on a sweep of the visiting Vikings, before Lawrence furiously rallied to win the third set, and, eventually, the match, 3-2 (25-13, 26-24, 19-25, 22-25, 6-15). IC falls to 6-13 (3-4 Midwest Conference) with the defeat.
Early on, the Lady Blues had everything working. The first set was back and forth much of the way until
Lisa Lowry stepped up to serve with Illinois College leading, 15-13. Ten points later, the Lady Blues had a 1-0 lead after Lawrence failed to record a side out the rest of the way.
Erin Washington and
Mikayla Greenwood had three kills apiece in the set as IC recorded a team-high .250 hitting percentage in the opening set.
Lawrence looked to be the team in control in the second set. After an attack error from the Vikings knotted the score up at 8-8, Lawrence scored nine of the next 11 points to take a 17-10 advantage. The lead reached as much as eight at 20-12 before Illinois College began chipping away.
Amber Blazek was right in the middle of the IC comeback, energizing the Lady Blues with two kills, an ace and two digs in the set. Nevertheless, the Vikings earned a match point at 24-20 and were closing in on the victory until the Lady Blues rallied one last time.
Erin Satterlee started the comeback with a kill and then took over behind the service line. Following three attack errors, an ace and a kill from Blazek, IC went up 2-0 with an unbelievable 26-24 win.
Lawrence stormed out to a commanding lead early in the third set and refused to give in to Illinois College. Though IC was able to reel off five straight points with Blazek on serve, the Vikings made it 2-1 with a 25-19 victory that wasn't as close as the score indicated.
In the fourth set, the Lady Blues looked to be set up for victory. Lawrence used its final timeout trailing, 17-12. Out of nowhere, the Vikings tallied seven consecutive points to take a 19-17 edge. From there, Illinois College would get within a point on three occasions but never get the tying point it needed as Lawrence squared the match at 2-2 with a 25-22 win.
The tide had turned by the time the fifth set began and Lawrence cruised to victory. The Vikings cranked up the defense and had 17 digs in the set, only allowing the Lady Blues to lay down two kills. An attack error from Lawrence pulled IC within one at 6-5, but nine of the final 10 points belonged to the Vikings as they won the match with a 15-6 decision.
Washington and
Holly Crocher shared the team lead in kills with 11. Lowry had 24 assists and 15 digs, while Courney Louveau added 19 assists and 18 digs.
Maurissa Moulton had a match-high 34 digs for the Lady Blues. Blazek ended the night with career highs in kills (four) and digs (nine).
Illinois College hosts its final regular season match of the season on Saturday against St. Norbert College at 1 p.m. It will be Senior Day for Moulton, the lone graduating member of the Lady Blues.
