Volleyball: Kailey Porter’s big night leads DeKalb comeback against Sycamore

DeKALB – After a big night, DeKalb senior Kailey Porter made sure to put the exclamation point on a Barbs’ win over rival Sycamore on Wednesday.

Porter’s block secured DeKalb’s third set win as the Barbs came back for a 14-25, 25-22, 25-23 victory against the Spartans.

“They’re our rivals and everything, and I really wanted to end it with a bang,” Porter said. “I wanted to show them this was our house and it was going to be hard for them to come in here and win.”

DeKalb (2-0) was in control most of the third game until Sycamore scored six out of seven points for a 19-18 lead.

Addy Levine put the Barbs back ahead of the Spartans (0-1), and the lead grew to 22-19 on a block by Porter and Lauren Gates. Sycamore got back to tie it up at 23, but the Barbs scored the last two points for the win, ending with the solo block by Porter.

“I would have loved to see her get the ball more, but when she did get it she handled it,” DeKalb coach Nicole Lambert said. “I’m proud of her as well.”

The Spartans rolled in the first game, never trailing. DeKalb was down, 12-11, when Sycamore rolled off five straight points, including one on a kill by Laci Neece. Neece added an ace late to push the lead to 20-12, and then Ally Schneider’s block pushed the lead to nine for the first time.

Schneider and Jaycie Funderberg were both strong defensively at the net, both recording key blocks throughout the match. Fudnerberg had some big kills as well, mostly in the third game.

“The first game we were serving a little better,” Sycamore coach Jennifer Charles said. “We were a little more aggressive on the serving. On the flip side, in the second game we were serving too aggressively, which was making the balls go out.”

In the second game, Sycamore led, 20-18, after coming back from 14-10 down, again sparked by a Neece kill. But a couple errors got DeKalb back to a tie at 20-all, and a Porter block put the Barbs ahead. An Ava Carpenter kill tied it for Sycamore at 21, but DeKalb took control on a kill by Calissa Hudson and a block by Hudson and Porter.

Just as with Game 3, the game ended on a Porter block. And just like the later game, Hudson was effective late around the net.

“She’s kind of been a roundabout player for us,” Lambert said. “We’ve thrown her into a couple different positions for us at this point and she’s shown up well. I wasn’t sure how it would go with me yanking her back and forth, but she did a great job.”

The Barbs moved to 2-0 with the win after opening with a win at Auburn on Monday.

“This is a tough game, just mentally,” Lambert said. “Our kids care a little more than just the average game. We knew we’d have a big crowd and a lot of people who would show up to support, and it was just a matter of taking care of that.”