East Peoria, Ill. - Friday night almost appears as a 'trap match' for the 17th-ranked ICC Volleyball team (12-8), but not in the most complete sense. See, the Cougars took on D1 (RV) Jefferson College, a team that although not presently in the D1 Top 20 rankings, is consistently a high-quality opponent. Saturday is an important all-Region tri-match. So while balancing the need to attack a quality D1 opponent, there was Saturday's matches on the horizon. Nonetheless, ICC would come away with the 3-0 sweep. 

SET 1 | #17 ICC COUGARS 26, D1 (RV) JEFFERSON 24
The match certainly did not get off to the cleanest start. Five of the set's first six points were earned by way of an error of some kind. A block error by the Cougars put the visiting Vikings ahead 5-1, but back came ICC. A kill from Kaitlyn Baumann and a Jefferson attack error turned that early deficit into a 6-6 tie. 

From there, it was quite the back and forth. In fact, leads reached were no more than three points, with one exception. The Vikings had an attack error that put the Cougars ahead 14-10. Now, they'd surrender that lead, but the set was far from over. 

Jefferson was actually the first team to 20 points by way of an ICC attack error. Those Vikings would get close to set point, at that, going ahead 23-22 on a kill. The set would need more than the 25 points when a Cougar service error tied the set at 24-24. A kill from Jenna Ochs put ICC onto set points, and Emily Allison closed it out with a kill of her own. 

SET 2 | #17 ICC COUGARS 25, D1 (RV) JEFFERSON 21
The second set started right where the first left off, tightly contested. This time, though, it appeared as if both squads had cleaned up their errors in between sets. No team would take even a two-point lead all the way into double-digits, but there were plenty of kills to be had.

An Ochs kill gave ICC a 9-8 lead early on, and the Cougars were the first to 10 when Amber Brawley found the open court to go ahead 10-9. Just a couple points later, ICC took the first multi-point lead on a Jefferson attack error (12-10). 

The Vikings, though, were not done yet. Granted, the Cougars would chip away every few points, but Jefferson seemed to always have a way to counter. ICC would be the first team to 20 points on a soft attack for the kill from Maris Barclay. 

A couple of critical blocks at the net from Baumann led the charge down the home stretch, expanding the lead ever so slightly. Baumann had consecutive blocks to put the Cougars ahead 23-19.

A kill from Makenzie Pflederer gave ICC set point. Despite all that, this go-around, the Cougars shut the door. Jefferson crept back in within a few points, but ultimately, a Baumann kill put ICC ahead in sets, 2-0. 

SET 3 | #17 ICC COUGARS 25, D1 (RV) JEFFERSON 22
More back and forth volleyball got the third set started, with teams trading one-point leads, if not, ties. The Cougars were the first to 10 points on a Brawley kill (10-8), but Jefferson went on a 3-1 run from ther to tie it back up at 11-11. 

Back-to-back attack errors put the Vikings behind the Cougars 16-13. As perhaps error-ridden as the match may have been, it now seemed like ICC had momentum right when they needed it most. Just when it seemed as such, a Jefferson kill pulled it back to 17-16 ICC. 

One last run. This one was the Cougars'. Two kills from Hannah Tellor and one from Ochs powered ICC to a 20-17 advantage. The lead increased to four points (22-18) on a Viking attack error. Three big kills ended the match. Pflederer made it 23-21, a powerful swing from Allison made it match point (24-21), and Pflederer also sent the home faithful out of Ramsey Gym happy with a kill and the win. 

STATISTICAL LEADERS
Kills | Kaitlyn Baumann (10; just 2 errors)
Assists | Maris Barclay (33)
Digs | Emily Cronkhite (19), Hannah Tellor (14), Emily Allison (10)
Aces | None
Blocks | Kaitlyn Baumann (4), Amber Brawley (3)

SHE SAID IT - QUOTES FROM COACH TRACY HEFFREN
On the lack of 'clean volleyball' in the first set
"Yeah, it was ugly volleyball, on both sides of the net. We did a nice job of fighting all the way through to the end." 

On how the second set was 'better', but still may not have felt clean
"I don't feel it was as clean as it could've been, but I felt it was better. I felt like we were playing better as a group." 

On whether or not the third-set kill from Hannah Tellor 'locked' in the win, or what momentum it gave
"It was a back and forth game. Once we did get that momentum swing on that kill, then it just kind of catapulted a little bit more. We just started being more focused."

On the potential challenge of prepping for Jefferson with a Region Tri-Match tomorrow
"Jefferson is definitely a good program. I'm like 'we're going to have a challenge this weekend'. We were going to come up against a D1 program, and we have to take that one step at a time." 

On what her best way to surmise Region 24 Play is
"Every match matters. No matter what, everybody's ready to play. Everybody wants to win. Whoever you play, it's going to be a challenge."

WHAT'S NEXT FOR THE COUGARS
Region 24 Tri-Match
Saturday, September 23rd - 12PM/4PM
vs. Rend Lake / Frontier
@ Ramsey Gym - East Peoria, Ill.
Watch Live (YouTube)