Prep Volleyball: Sweet Sweep

Harrisburg completed a sweep of its Southern Illinois River to River matches with Benton on Tuesday, but not without a much better effort from the Rangerettes.

The Lady Bulldogs left Benton with a 25-19, 25-21 victory, just too powerful even after the Rangerettes grabbed a 17-14 lead in the second set.

Harrisburg stormed back with an 8-2 surge and never looked back.

"Much closer," Benton coach Rhonda Carlton said after losing 25-12, 25-18 in the first meeting. "The second round was a lot better. We kind of knew where they were going to go after seeing them once. I really think they have a tough squad when they are on."

Harrisburg (9-8, 3-1 in conference) played without setter Jessica Schwartz, out with muscle spasms in her back. It's only the second time the Lady Bulldogs have played without the senior.

"Mentally it was a big test," Harrisburg coach Heather Cox said. "We had a few kids playing in different positions. And Benton is a tough program. You can look at the wall and see the accolades. To beat them at our place was great but to come here and get a victory on their floor is wonderful."

Cox isn't sure how long Schwartz will be sidelined.

Sophomore Devin Butler filled in Tuesday and spread the ball around to Harrisburg's big hitters, Byrleigh Buchanan and Matty Hawkins.

"She did a phenomenal job," Cox said. "She's an athlete, she's a good kid, she will work hard."

Butler said she had a few butterflies but they didn't show in her play. Whenever Harrisburg needed a point, Butler was able to find a hitter to put the ball away.

"It was stressful," Butler said. "They are both different. One is right (Hawkins) and one is left (Buchanan) so it is kind of hard setting, I sometimes forget which one is which. We played really good. We had some mistakes but we recovered."

Some of those mistakes came early as Harrisburg got off to a slow start in the first set with a series of hitting and serving errors. There were 5 ties and 4 lead changes in the early going.

The Lady Bulldogs took the lead for good at 7-6 on kill by Karsyn Davis. They extended their lead on a flurry of big swings by Hawkins.

Then it was Buchanan's turn as her kill put Harrisburg up 14-8. Carlton took her second timeout after a block from Hawkins made it 21-14. Harrisburg closed out the first set on Toni Crisp's ace.

Benton started strong in the second set and led until an ace by Madeline Rider and a Hawkins block gave Harrisburg its first lead at 10-9. Benton responded with a kill by Zoe Carlton, a perfectly placed cross court tip by Sydney Tate and Kaylee Pedigo's kill for a 17-14 lead.

Cox called time, and Crisp blasted a ball that started Harrisburg on an 11-4 run to close the match. Hawkins put the finishing touches on the evening with a booming kill the Rangerettes couldn't touch.

Both Hawkins and Buchanan had 7 kills in the opening set alone, and they combined for 21 in the match.

Brooklyn Calcaterra led Benton (9-10, 1-3) with 7 kills. Tate added 3 and 15 digs.

"They are getting better," Carlton said. "They just have to get a little more motivation behind them. When they are up they have to stay up. That's what we're working on."