Harvard's last-ditch effort comes up short

Harvard's Megan Struck (9) and Brittany Finke (10) block a hit from Carlinville's Katie Graham (19) during the first set of the IHSA Class 2A third place match at Illinois State University's Redbird Arena in Normal, Ill on November 14, 2009. Carlinville defeated the Hornets, 17-25, 25-19, and 25-20. Harvard leaves state volleyball with a fourth place finish. (Lauren M. Anderson – landerson@nwherald.com)

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NORMAL – There were about 700 teams gunning for an appearance in the Class 2A state volleyball finals.

To come to Redbird Arena and lose two matches was not the way Harvard had hoped to finish its season, but the Hornets will take home a fourth-place trophy after losing to Carlinville, 17-25, 25-19, 20-25, the sting of defeat lessened by the reality of being in Normal this weekend.

“I’m very proud of them,” Harvard coach Kelly Brierley said. “Even our Illinois Valley match [in the Class 2A supersectional] was a battle. We worked very hard and were very excited to be here this weekend.

“There were 690 teams in 2A, so to be in the final four was a huge accomplishment for our program.”

The Hornets have established a strong tradition, having gone to the state finals three times in six seasons. Harvard finished third in Class A in 2006.

“It’s amazing,” Harvard senior Ashleigh Fisher said. “Fourth place is still a huge accomplishment. We didn’t win like we wanted, but we are very proud and very happy to have been here.”

Harvard won the first set after taking a four-point lead, 16-12, and holding on to extend it, 21-12, behind Fisher’s seven consecutive service points, including two aces.

The Hornets (27-14) worked their middles well in the first set and junior middle blocker Megan Struck came up with two blocks, while Carlinville (36-4) made an error on serve-receive to close out the first set.

Harvard kept the second set close, tying it five times, but the Cavaliers pulled away late, 21-16, behind solid play at the net from seniors Elizabeth Kelly and Kelsey Card, who combined for seven kills in the second set and 26 of the team’s total 35 kills.

“We came up short yesterday and we didn’t want to do that again,” Kelly said. “We got 25 percent of our losses this year here, so we thought we’d leave it at that.”

Harvard staged a rally in the third set. Down 18-11, Fisher threw down four consecutive kills to trim the Cavaliers’ lead to three, 18-15. A kill later from outside hitter Brittany Finke cut the Cavaliers’ lead to one, 20-19, but Carlinville rattled off four points to take a 24-19 lead. The Hornets could not recover.

“We couldn’t really get into a rhythm in the second or third games,” Brierley said. “We battled back well [in the third set], but we couldn’t finish.”