It was déjà vu all over again for the Macomb High and Illini West varsity volleyball teams.
Playing in a Prairieland Conference South Division contest Tuesday at The Hangar, the Bombers rallied for a 20-25, 25-23, 25-13 victory over the Chargers.
MHS improved to 9-7 overall, 2-0 in Prairieland South play, while Illini West slipped to 11-6 overall, 1-1 in league play.
The match was eerily similar to their contest in the Macomb Classic at Brophy Hall on Aug. 30.
In that contest, Illini West won the first set 25-21, only to see Macomb pull out set two 27-25 before rolling to a 15-1 victory in the deciding set.
“They’re definitely one of our biggest rivals,” said MHS junior Reagan Knowles of Illini West. “It’s always a big win for us.”
“We’re pretty evenly matched I would say,” said MHS coach Hillary Humes. “They were hungry to beat us, so we knew we had to come out really sharp.”
But just like their first meeting, it was Illini West who grabbed the upper hand.
The Chargers used a sixpoint run to break a 6-6 tie. Illini West’s largest lead came at 20-11 before the Bombers battled back.
But at 22-20, a pair of kills and a block by Kennedy Gunning allowed the Chargers to close out the set.
With senior hitters Ella Hare and Addyson Fox out with injury, the team used a different lineup Tuesday.
“Set one, we struggled a little bit and they took advantage of that,” said Humes.
Macomb trailed set two 19-17 when Knowles entered to serve. The junior made an immediate impact with two aces that knotted the set.
Two kills by Hotz and one by Jordan Hines, along with a Charger hitting error gave the Bombers a 23-19 lead.
“I just think about getting the ball in and not letting my team down,” said Knowles.
“She really stepped up in a big way,” said Humes of Knowles. “I’ve been using her a lot this season as our pinch-server. She doesn’t really get rattled. She knows what her role is right now and she goes in and she does it well.”
“She doesn’t go back and try to put a lollipop in play,” she added. “She’s going to go in and try to get us a free ball. There’s a high risk, high reward with that and (this match) we got the high reward with her serving.”
“I think with the momentum of serving aces and all our kills really kept us going,” said Knowles. “Especially after so many in a row. It kept the energy up.”
Illini West did inch within 24-23, but a kill by Hotz ended the set and evened the match.
“We want to win, earning those last few points,” said Humes. “(This match) we did that.”
“We just really wanted to repeat what we did out at Western,” said Hotz. “Not losing the first set, but we really wanted to come back strong in the second set and put it away, especially on our home court.”
“We just really wanted to bring the energy up a lot more,” she added. “We were kind of dead in the first set. We just wanted to put the ball away as fast as we can and work more as a team.”
In set three, freshman Brixley Lidaywa had a kill and a block that broke a 3-3 tie and the Bombers led the rest of the way in notching the victory.
“She took some big swings. That’s hard to do coming in as a freshman in this kind of environment,” said Humes of Lidaywa.
“They did a really good job stepping up. They really showed,” said Hotz of Lidaywa and freshman Jersee Mills. “I’m glad that they were able to help us.”
Hotz recorded 10 kills and two blocks for the Bombers. She also served as a hype master on the court.
“I usually just slap my hands. Whatever energy I get for myself from a kill or block, I try to make sure after it if someone else gets a kill I instantly push all that energy onto them so that they can get hyped up too,” said Hotz.
Hines also recorded 10 kills and two blocks. The Chargers also focused on making Hines work on the serve-receive and on defense in the back row.
“If I was Jo, I would take that as a compliment,” said Humes. “If I was an opposing coach, and we had their big hitter on the outside, I would want to overload them.”
“If they’re going to be the big hitter and the blocker, let’s make them do all the passing. Let’s make them do all the digging and really wear them down mentally.”
“It was a good strategy on their part. They saw her as a threat,” said Humes. “She responded really well in sets two and three.”
Sophie Wilson handed out 20 set assists, while also chipping in 14 digs and two service aces.
Knowles finished with nine service points and two service aces, while Jordyn Shoopman added eight service points and two service aces.
Emily Westerhold tallied 12 digs and three service aces for the victors.
“To show some grit after that set one loss and come back to get that match win, I think it will be good for us,” said Humes.
The Bombers returned to action Thursday, hosting Lewistown.
On Sept. 30, Macomb returns to Prairieland South play against Bushnell-Prairie City at Bushnell before heading to Augusta to face Southeastern the following evening.
“We just want to keep winning more games and keep trying to work together more as a team,” said Hotz. “We have some new players coming in and we’re just trying to adjust to everything.”
“We want to keep having fun and using our momentum to keep getting us wins,” added Knowles. “It’s a lot more fun to win. But it’s also a lot more fun when the energy is high.”
Macomb won the sophomore contest 25-16, 25-15, while Illini West won the freshman match 25-16, 25-20.
