IVCC rallies in fifth set to top Highland

OGLESBY – IVCC got off to a slow start on the night and in the final set, but the Eagles recovered to come away with an exciting 18-25, 25-13, 18-25, 25-17, 15-13 victory over Highland in an Arrowhead Conference match Tuesday.

In the fifth set, the Cougars came out firing, scoring the first five points.

Julia Evenson fired the first shot, and Maggie Drew served an ace. After a pair of Eagles errors, IVCC called a timeout.

After a service error got IVCC on the board, a touch shot from Ashlee Fisher sailed wide to pull IVCC within 6-3.

The lead was pushed to 7-3, but not after two tremendous digs from IVCC’s Grace Landers.

La Salle-Peru alumnae Olivia Shetterly fired a shot that went off a Highland player to close the gap to 8-6.

“Grace was outstanding, diving all over the floor tonight,” IVCC coach Kaitlyn Edgcomb said. “Our bigs in the middle with Ella Sibert, Camryn Piscia and Olivia really got us going.”

Sibert sent another shot off the Cougars’ defenders that tied the game at 9.

With the game tied at 11-11, Maggie Drew was whistled for a lift that gave the Eagles a 12-11 advantage.

Sibert slammed down a kill that put IVCC ahead 14-11, but the Cougars did not go quietly.

Evenson used a dink shot and Natalia Obradovic knocked a shot off the IVCC defenders that closed the gap to 14-13.

However, Piscia, an L-P graduate, smacked a shot off Highland that landed out, giving the Eagles the victory.

“After that last timeout we took, I just told them we needed to dig deep,” Edgcomb said. “And I thought we did a great job of that and were able to come back and get the victory.”

In the opening set, the Cougars came out firing on all cylinders and looked like they were going to make quick work of the Eagles.

Highland jumped out to an 11-1 lead behind aces from Drew along with big kills from Obradovic and another ace from Chelsey Mashaw.

But the Eagles were not about to make things easy on Highland. Sibert hit a big shot down the line, and Piscia began to take command at the net with a block.

Sibert hit yet another shot down the line and a big dig from Neely Hougas landed and a 13-6 run by IVCC cut the gap to 23-17, but Highland closed out the first set with a cross-court kill from Cole Knox.

IVCC continued to play well into the second set, especially Piscia at the net as the Eagles started out with a 5-2 edge.

Highland responded with a 4-0 run and briefly took the lead 6-5. The set went back and forth as the score was tied at 9-9.

IVCC widened the lead with a 5-0 run behind two blocks from Piscia and tremendous sets from Princeton graduate Katie Bates.

“Boy, am I going to miss Katie when she’s gone next year,” Edgcomb said. “She just gets everything in order and makes the offense run smooth for us.”

After an 8-2 run for the Eagles that gave them a 16-11 lead, a fingertip dig from Ottawa alumnae Brea Konwinski helped IVCC take a 21-12 lead on its way to a 25-13 second-set victory.

The third set started off like the first two, with the teams trading jabs back and forth, but an 11-3 run for the Cougars opened things up.

Alexis Law and Evenson combined for a block, and Law sent a shot off the IVCC defenders at the net along with an ace from Fisher that gave Highland a 17-9 advantage.

IVCC closed the gap to 19-18 with a 7-0 run fueled by a Shetterly kill as well as a block, but the Cougars ended the third set with a 6-0 run that sent the match to the fourth set.

With IVCC needing the fourth set to set up a deciding fifth, it was Piscia with the kill that gave the Eagles an early 2-1 lead.

A service error from Mashaw and a shot from Konwinski found a hole in the middle of the Cougars’ defense to give IVCC a 6-3 advantage.

The Eagles used an 11-2 run to take control of the fourth set as Piscia again had a block and then three straight kills pushed the lead to 21-12 before taking the set 25-17.

“There was a couple digs and then a shot from Ella [Sibert] where I was just glad she didn’t get hurt,” Edgcomb said. “I mean, the acrobatic shots that were made just amazed me.”

For the Eagles (12-6, 5-2 Arrowhead), Bates had 43 assists and 20 digs, Piscia put down 13 kills, Sibert had 10 kills, Shetterly contributed nine kills, L-P graduate Erica Antle had 21 digs, and Landers had 20 digs.