By: A young IC squad showed a lot of promise on Friday with a decisive sweep of Concordia (Chicago) in the afternoon and a narrow defeat to Simpson in the evening.
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Box Score 2
JACKSONVILLE, Ill. – Though a three-set sweep at the hands of Simpson College put a little damper on the end of the day, the Illinois College volleyball team looked very impressive on the opening day of the 2016 season. Featuring 13 newcomers to the team this season, the returners and fresh faces showed immediate chemistry in an easy sweep of Concordia (Chicago).
The Illinois College Tournament will conclude tomorrow with the Lady Blues (1-1) facing Missouri Valley College in Sherman Gymnasium at 10 a.m. and squaring off with crosstown rival MacMurray College to close the tournament at 2 p.m.
Illinois College 3, Concordia (Chicago) 0
(25-20, 25-14, 25-18)
Illinois College cruised through the first match of the season, limiting the visiting Cougars to a .047 hitting percentage for the match and committing only 11 attack errors. Returning All-MWC performer
Lisa Lowry led the way with 11 kills, but freshmen
Ali Pankey (10 kills),
Elizabeth Ganley (25 assists) and
Madie Budd (10 digs) were also a big part of the story.
Though the first set would grow tighter towards the end, the Lady Blues burst out of the gate and had a 14-6 lead on Concordia (Chicago) halfway through. Pankey had six of her 10 kills in the opening set, and Ganley and
Rebecca Shields put down back-to-back kills after the Cougars had closed to within three at 23-20.
The second set was a wire-to-wire victory for the Lady Blues. After bursting out of the gates with a 4-0 lead, IC still led at 15-11 before turning on the jets again. A four-point spurt made it 19-11 and an offense led by Lowry's six kills on eight attacks in the set would coast home for a two-set lead.
If the first set belonged to Pankey and the second set was Lowry's turn, then the third set was all Shields. The sophomore had six of her eight kills for the match in the third set, going on a run to help IC dig out of a 14-11 hole midway through. After Shields had tied the match at 17-17, Concordia (Chicago) took its last lead on a kill from Raven Burns. After Pankey leveled the score at 18-18,
Katie Tonry served out the match as she recorded two aces in addition to two Cougar attack errors and three kills from the offense.
Simpson 3, Illinois College 0
(22-25, 25-27, 23-25)
There wasn't much to separate Illinois College and Simpson in the nightcap, but the Storm came up with enough plays down the stretch in each set to hold off the challenge of the Lady Blues.
MacKenzie Heinz ended with a team-high 11 kills in the match, while Lowry added in 10. Ganley dished out a match-high 33 assists and
Brenna Garland led the defense with 10 digs.
A fired-up crowd gave life to Illinois College early on, but Simpson ran off four points midway through the set to take a 17-13 lead. Late in the set, the Storm were on top 24-17 before an attack error from Jacqueline Luth gave the serve back to Illinois College's Shields. Her serve gave Simpson all kinds of problems and brought the Lady Blues back to within two at 24-22, prompting a timeout from the SC bench. Out of the break, Luth was able to secure a 1-0 lead for the visitors with her third kill of the frame.
The second set slipped away from the Lady Blues after they led, 20-16. Simpson made a small comeback, but an error on serve gave IC a 24-22 lead. That's when Madison Endsley got going. Three consecutive kills from the Storm junior gave her team a 25-24 lead. Though a service error finally ended the run and knotted the score at 25-apiece, the next two points went to Simpson to give the visitors from Iowa a 2-0 lead in the match.
The third set was a matter of Illinois College falling behind and battling back, only to come up just short. Simpson established a five-point lead at 15-10, but IC came back to tie it at 22-22 after two straight Lowry kills. The Storm went back on top, 24-22, to earn a match point. Shields erased one of those with a side-out kill, but with Lowry on serve, Ty Duve was able to locate the hole in the IC defense and win the match for Simpson.
Luth ended with a match-high 12 kills as well as 10 digs for the Storm, while Alyssa Mathews had 20 assists and Kayla Aronow had 12 digs.
