Harper volleyball rankled with ranking
Avenging an earlier loss drove Harper College's volleyball team to a convincing 4-game victory over Rock Valley last week.
The Hawks found their rallying point for the N4C rematch in Rockford next Thursday.
When the NJCAA Division III national rankings came out this week, Harper (21-17) moved up just one spot to No. 7 and Rock Valley dropped a spot to No. 5.
"What do we have to do to get respect?" asked Harper coach Bob Vilsoet. "All you can do is use it as a motivational tool.
"We're disappointed we're not ahead of Rock Valley."
Some coaches would prefer to stay under the radar in the underdog's role. Not Vilsoet.
"I want to be the favorite," he said. "Why? The favorites win more."
And Harper continued to win after its big victory over Rock Valley as it went 4-1 in the College of DuPage tournament and improved to 5-0 in the N4C with a 30-20, 30-24, 30-19 win over Joliet.
In the COD tournament, Karlee Didier broke Harper's two-game assist record with 34 in a win over College of Lake County. Didier had 65 assists in the tourney and Nikki Maize had 55.
Lisa LaMasse had 11 kils and 11 blocks in the win over Joliet.
It turned out Christy Lima was credited with 23 kills to fall 1 short of the Harper single-match record against Rock Valley. But Lima leads the nation in total kills with 287 and LaMasse leads in total blocks with 121.
Maize is third in assists with 631. In digs per game, Diane Janik is 20th (4.2), Maize is 23rd (4.0) and Katie Reed is 31st (3.7).
While Harper had this weekend off, it also hosts a key N4C match with COD on Tuesday as it looks to continue building momentum for the postseason.
"I cannot be more pleased with how this team has played," Vilsoet said.
Seeking completion: Harper's football team thought it had completed the deal last Saturday when it took a 28-point lead into the fourth quarter on North Dakota State College of Science.
But the Hawks (3-3, 2-3) had to sweat out a 47-33 Midwest Football Conference victory. They hope they learned a lesson going into Saturday's 1 p.m. game with North Iowa Area Community College (3-2, 2-2) in Mason City.
"Our kids relaxed a little bit and that's dangerous," said Harper coach Dragan Teonic. "I'm happy to win the game … but we have yet to do that (play a complete game)."
The Hawks will be challenged to do so again as they'll be without linebacker Aaron Diggs this week with a shoulder injury.
NIACC quarterback Lorenzo Brown has thrown for 1,210 yards and 9 TDs and Marques Parker (21 catches, 419 yards, 2 TDs) and 6-foot-6 Brad Theilen (14 for 320, 4 TDs) are his favorite targets.
And Harper quarterback Garrett Barnas will be under the gun as NIACC will blitz early and often.
Teonic hopes Streamwood grad Senica Jackson can duplicate the 75 yards he rushed for in his first start last week to counter NIACC's blitzes.
"If he plays like that again this weekend we'll win," Teonic said. "He's come on real strong."
Running back Neil Sammons (Rolling Meadows) also returns from injury this weekend. But Teonic isn't sure if running back Billy Buehring (Schaumburg) will be able to return from an ankle injury.
Building momentum: Harper's women's soccer team beat Triton 4-0 on Wednesday to improve to 2-0-1 in its last three and 4-3-1 overall.
"Offensively we're starting to pick it up," said Harper coach Dwayne Cruz. "We struggled a bit against Joliet (1-1 tie) but this week we had everybody and we were ready to play."
Nicole Eide scored 2 goals and Michelle Hernandez also had a goal against Triton. Cruz is still looking for the Hawks to finish more chances but has no problem with the way they're finishing matches.
"Typically we score more goals in the second half," Cruz said of leading Trition 1-0 at halftime. "It definitely takes us time to get in a rhythm and I think offensively we wear defenses down a bit."
Still struggling: Men's soccer coach Jason Diebold hoped Harper's first victory would be a spark.
But the Hawks dropped to 1-5-1 overall with a 3-1 loss to Triton on Wednesday.
"I haven't quite experienced a season like this and had the talent we do and we're struggling with the scoreboard," Diebold said. "Right now it's more of a will to win and inciting that in these guys."
The one encouraging part for Diebold is the Hawks aren't that far away with four 1-goal losses.
"We've got a little time to right the ship and finish the season stronger than we've started it," Diebold said.
Back in the running: The cross country teams return to action this weekend at the Benedictine Invitational after a three-week layoff. Harper coach Dan Delahunt called the chance to train "beneficial."