Girls volleyball: Streator rebounds from first-set loss to score 16th victory of season

STREATOR – If you can’t win in two, you might as well make the third set a quick one.

That was the winning philosophy Tuesday evening for the Streator Bulldog Spikers, who notched their 16th win of the season after letting the opening set slip away. The hosts at Pops Dale Gymnasium defeated Illinois Central Eight Conference foe Lisle 20-25, 25-22, 25-11.

“We fall behind way too much, and it’s nerve-racking, but we usually come through,” Streator senior middle Alexa Jacobs said. “We know we can finish it off.

“We have good energy, and we all like each other, so the bond’s good. When you all have a good connection, it just kind of flows. You get excited for each other and hype each other up, the confidence is there, and then you get excited for every play. ...

“We just had to wake up tonight. Once we were awake, we just hammered down, finished it off, because we wanted to go home. Since we didn’t get it in two, if we have to go to three, we might as well make it fast.”

“Once we were awake, we just hammered down, finished it off, because we wanted to go home. Since we didn’t get it in two, if we have to go to three, we might as well make it fast.”

—  Alexa Jacobs, Streator volleyball senior

Jacobs put down a team-high eight kills as well as a pair of blocks, part of a front-row attack also led by Mya Zavada (seven kills, two blocks), Sophia Pence (seven kills, five digs), Sonia Proksa (three kills, one block, two aces) and, running the show, setter Emma Rambo (24 assists, six digs).

Senior libero Rilee Talty accumulated 13 digs and a match-best three aces. Shaeyln Groesbeck added six digs and the match-point ace that sent the Bulldog Spikers (16-3-1, 5-1 ICE) home winners.

“One thing I can say about this team is, they just never quit,” Streator coach Julie Gabehart said. “We’ve had this happen to us where we’ve had some slow starts, we get beat pretty handily our first set, and teams in the past would have let that get to them and rolled over, but this team just never, ever, ever stops.

“I think that is one of our greatest strengths. And at any given time, it’s not just one player carrying the load. They take turns doing different things.”

Streator led most of the opening set, including by a half-dozen points at 14-8, but saw Lisle (3-16, 0-6) storm back with a seven-point service run from Sophia Harer that featured key kills from Isabella Furmasnki and Dakota Geraskey. A Brooklyn Burton kill ended it, with the Lions winning 13 of the final 17 rallies.

The second set played out similarly, with the Spikers’ six-point advantage coming at 16-10. This time, however, Streator halted the Lisle run before it flipped the lead, with a booming Jacobs kill and additional winners from Zavada and Rambo sandwiched around a Proksa ace the key points.

That sent the match to the third set. There was no Lisle run this time.

A three-point service run by Pence early, another off the hand of Talty and respective five- and four-point service stretches from Kenzie Reinhold and Talty built the Streator advantage to as many as 13 points. A Proksa kill provided the penultimate point, and Groesbeck ended it with the aforementioned ace.

Anna Gorzkowski’s match-high 11 kills led Lisle, which started strong but couldn’t maintain the play that led the Lions to the opening-set victory.

“[The team] was just kind of mentally exhausted,” Lisle coach Kendall Rivecco said. “We’ve been pushing the physical game so much, I think mentally they were just kind of frustrated with themselves. They wanted to perform in a certain way, and when they didn’t meet that expectation, that’s when they started to go down.

“Physically, we were ready to go. Mentally, not so much.”