Chargers Take Care of Sauk Valley in 4 Sets

GALESBURG — The Carl Sandburg College volleyball team used a late rally to steal the first set and went on to defeat Sauk Valley 26-24, 25-19, 18-25, 25-23 in an Arrowhead Conference match Wednesday night at John Lewis Gym.

The victory extended the Chargers' home winning streak to 15 matches and their run of consecutive conference wins to 13.

Those streaks appeared in jeopardy early on as the Skyhawks used a 7-0 run in the first to take a 13-4 lead. Sandburg trailed 22-17 before kills from Grace Vyhnanek and Ayla Cannon ignited a 5-0 run to tie the set. Vyhnanek set up Natalie Burden for a 25-24 lead and the Chargers' second set point, and Sauk Valley followed with a hitting error to give Sandburg an early 1-0 advantage.

Up 21-19 in the second, the Chargers took the final four points of the set, including a kill from Burden on set point.

The teams were tied at 15 in the third before the Skyhawks took five straight points and five of the final six in the set to avoid the sweep.

Sandburg used another late comeback in the fourth to put the match away. The Chargers appeared to be in control after Lillian Isenhour's kill gave them a 20-17 lead, but Sauk Valley went back ahead at 22-20 with a 5-0 run. Sandburg, though, won five of the last six points, beginning with a kill from Addison DeSpain.

Burden totaled 11 kills, and DeSpain finished with 10 kills and 17 digs. Cannon was a force in the middle, putting down nine kills on 15 attempts for a .467 hitting percentage. She also led the Chargers with two solo blocks.

Vyhnanek had 34 assists along with four kills, and Madeline Mooney had 20 digs from her libero spot. Lauren Powell also made a big contribution in the back row, picking up nine digs.

UP NEXT
6 p.m. Tuesday at Black Hawk 

Get text/email notifications of Sandburg Athletics results
Follow @SandburgNJCAA on Twitter
Like @sandburgchargers on Facebook
Follow @sandburgchargers on Instagram