(Sugar Grove, IL) - Waubonsee Community College's women's volleyball team opened the 2022 Region IV Crossover Tournament with a 3-0 loss to Carl Sandburg College. The Chargers (9-7) took game one 25-20 and pulled away late to win game two 25-18. Sandburg finished off the sweep by winning the third game 25-21 to drop the Chiefs to 3-11 overall on the season. Waubonsee is the host site for this year's three-day tournament consisting of junior college teams from northern Illinois and southern Wisconsin. Games run through Friday, Saturday and Sunday in the Chiefs' Field House and Erickson Hall Gymnasium. For more information, go on-line at www.GoChiefs.com
The match opened with a kill by the Chiefs' Abby Colon. Sandburg responded right away as Lauren Erke delivered a kill from the left side to even the score. The Chargers grabbed a 6-4 lead on an ace by Erke and then tried to hold off the Chiefs. An ace by Gianna Raimondi pulled Waubonsee within 11-10 before the Chargers front line began to take over. Sandburg surged ahead 16-11 prompting a timeout by Waubonsee head coach Megan Kronschnabel. After the break Jaydn Swan registered another kill from the left side as the Chargers extended their lead. A power spike by Waubonsee's Jordan Weber temporarily stemmed the tide before Erke served up an ace to make it 21-13. Back-to-back thunderous kills by Weber and Colon, and a miscue by Sandburg got the Chiefs within 22-18. A minute later a long volley ended with a return shot sailing wide down the left sideline to get Waubonsee within three points at 23-20. But the Chargers quickly recorded a kill and an ace to finish off the game one victory.
Game two went back and forth in the early going as the teams alternated points. After a kill by Colon the score stood 6-5 in favor of the Chargers. Sandburg then began to pull away booking the next four points to take a 10-5 lead. Moments later a block by Raimondi sparked a Chiefs rally as they tied it at 10 on a kill by Colon. However, a net violation on Waubonsee during the following volley snapped their scoring streak. Neither team was able to take more than a one-point lead over the next five minutes of action until Sandburg went ahead 17-15 when Colon's return shot sailed out of bounds. The Chargers were able to build a 22-18 lead before the Chiefs called timeout to try and stop their momentum. However, when play resumed the Chiefs misfired three straight times to allow Sandburg to close out victory and take a commanding two games to none lead.
Game three was similar to the previous game as the teams traded points early on. A service error by Waubonsee staked the Chargers to a 6-4 lead. A minute later a power kill by Erke put Sandburg momentarily in front 7-6. Shortly thereafter Norah Molitor recorded a point for the Chiefs to knot the score at 8-all. Waubonsee then went ahead 10-9 on a thunderous spike by Weber down the left side. Sandburg went back in front 12-11, but that lead was short lived. The Chiefs' Madison Marziani-Radomski made a fantastic dig that led to another kill by Colon to give the Chiefs a 13-12 lead. The closely contested game then began to turn when the Chargers reeled off five straight points to surge ahead 17-13. The Chargers' front line, featuring three 6-footers, continued to key their success. A kill by Weber got the Chiefs within 23-19 until Sandburg's Grace Evans punctuated a long volley with a power spike to get the Chargers to game and match point. Swan then finished it off with another spike from the middle of the net to complete the sweep.
Colon finished the match with 17 kills and 15 digs to lead Waubonsee. Weber booked nine kills and four digs, while Raimondi tallied 31 assists and three kills, and Izandra Graf contributed 21 digs. The Chiefs also dropped their following match early in the afternoon to Lincoln Land Community College 3-1. The Loggers (15-13) took the opening game before the Chiefs won the second. Lincoln Land then held off the Chiefs in the third and fourth games to win the match. Colon again paced the Chiefs with 17 kills and 16 digs, with Marziani-Radomski chipping in with 23 digs. Raimondi contributed an all-around effort compiling 13 digs, 23 assists, seven kills, three blocks and two service aces.
Waubonsee is set to play again tomorrow, Saturday, September 24 against Sauk Valley Community College beginning at 1:00 p.m. The Chiefs are also scheduled to play on Sunday against Black hawk College starting at 9:00 a.m. and Rock Valley College in the final match of the tournament at 3:00 p.m.