Dwight swarms GSW in volleyball

BY MIKE CUNNIFF
Herald Sports Editor DWIGHT - No three-game match this time. With Dwight senior center front Amie Hogan collecting 18 service points, the Lady Trojans downed the Gardner-South Wilmington Lady Panthers 25-13 and 25-11 in non-conference volleyball at Kresl Memorial Gymnasium. The outcome boosted Dwight to a 17-4 ledger on the season while GSW tumbles to 4-7. The Lady Trojans held an 18-6 advantage in kills on the night while also picking up a dozen ace serves. “Our blocking wasn't there tonight,” said Lady Panthers second-year coach Stacy Faletti. “And really, we are not a strong blocking team. That's our worst downfall. We knew they had some big hitters coming in. And if the setter got the ball to them, our back row doesn't have much of a chance.” “It was a nice match,” said Dwight coach Coreen Perschnick. “We were able to get everybody in and got Melanie (Bedeker) some playing time in the back row. Last year, they took us to three games (with the Lady Trojans prevailing 25-12, 25-27, 25-17), so I told the girls they had to be ready to play tonight. “We just got done celebrating Harvest Days and I told the girls that we needed to play a good match,” Perschnick added. “I hate to make excuses but we are coming off playing in a tournament on Saturday and then we had the town celebration over the weekend. And then we didn't have school today. I told them to get their sleep. I just didn't want to come out and play sloppy tonight. I was pleased with the way we were ready to play.” Keying the evening was an 8-point run by Hogan in the first game. Dwight broke in front 5-1 on three points (including an ace by Kolby Hoffman and a kill by senior middle hitter Carly Perschnick) before senior Katie Simms countered with a trio of markers to make it 5-5. Simms double aced before a Lady Trojans hit sailed long. Carly Perschnick gleaned a sideout to send Hogan to the stripe, where she rattled off her snowman. “But we had a lot of errors in that run,” noted Faletti. “I told them when I took a timeout (at 13-5) that it wasn't so much that Dwight was winning the match but that we were losing it.” Hogan had an ace in her run while Carly Perschnick picked up a kill on an overpass. The other six markers came via GSW miscues. The Lady Panthers utilized four markers by junior middle hitter Amber Eisha to sneak back within 16-12. Highlighting the longest run of the night by GSW were kills by Simms and Julie Pfeifer on overpasses. Eisha also notched an ace. A half dozen points by Dwight's Chaney Tambling to lead off the second rotation ended it. Carly Perschnick swatted two kills while Hoffman added a kill when her spike just nudged the net and tumbled over. The Lady Trojans had just five servers in the nightcap, with Hoffman double acing to highlight a four-marker onslaught to erase a 2-1 deficit. Mallorie Kennedy added the other two points via kills. After Brittany Irvin etched a point for GSW, she turned it over on a long serve. Hogan then delivered four aces (with Carly Perschnick jamming a hit by Sam Foley in between). Hogan later had another ace before Melanie Bedeker had a kill smack and Carly Perschnick a kill out of the center slot. A Simms sideout kill then set up her own ace at the stripe before Bedeker re-gained serve for the Lady Trojans with a sideout. Carly Perschnick had three points (including an ace) and Kennedy another trio (capped with an ace) to bring up match point. A wide serve (giving Dwight five miscues overall) turned it over. Foley had an ace and Eisha a kill before Bedeker closed it out with a sideout kill via the right front. “Dwight is a good team,” said Faletti. “We weren't intimidated by playing here. But we just weren't comfortable here and I thought we played scared.” “Amie (Hogan) had a great night serving,” said coach Perschnick. “We even had the opportunity to have her jump serve late. We have a big match tomorrow (Tuesday) night at Peotone and we were able to try a few things tonight that I thing could help us.” Hoffman had six service points and Tambling five to back Hogan's 18. Kennedy and Carly Perschnick provided three each. Perschnick had eight kills while Hoffman and Bedeker chipped in with a trio apiece. Kennedy and Tambling had two each. Hogan had six aces and Tambling the same number of digs. Pfeifer and Simms had two kills each out of the GSW total of six. Simms and Eisha etched four points each while Foley ended with one less. Three of the four Simms markers came via aces. The Lady Panthers will host Illinois Lutheran on Tuesday and visit St. Anne on Thursday.