An intense battle raged on the court on Sept. 24 as the Chaps and Owls overtook each other back and forth in a desperate attempt to claw their way back to victory. The Chaparrals of College of DuPage and the Oakton Owls faced off in the PEC arena, both of them determined to bounce back from a series of losses. The Lady Chaparrals were returning from a road trip that left them with an 11-9 record after going 1-4 in the Blinn Invitational in Brenham, Texas. COD lost to Dallas College North Lake, Dallas College Richmond, Dallas College Eastfield, and Blinn College. The Oakton Owls were in a similar situation and were desperate for a victory to give them new life. The Owls are 1-4 in their last five games and 7-11 overall this season. This left both teams hungry for a win.
“Texas is very, very difficult. It’s hard to explain unless you go down there and go through it. We live in hotels for four days and play tough teams, but we always feel that we know what we need to do to get better,” said head coach Tolis Koskinaris.
To start the first set, COD sprinted on a 6-1 run, which brought Oakton’s head coach to the first of his two timeouts. The Chaps held onto the lead into the late stages of the first set; the early run was not enough to hold the Owls back from clawing back into the game. Oakton tied the set at 25 after being down 19-24. Following back-to-back kills by Alexandra Hornbogen and Josephine Becker, COD won the first set and had 16 kills, 9 errors and 58 total attacks.
In the early stages of the second, Oakton went up 3-1, but COD came storming back and went on a 6-0 run to lead 7-3. Just like the first set, the Owls came back and took the lead in the late stage of set two (21-20). The Chapperals went on a late 3-0 run to regain the lead at 23-21. This intense back and forth continued until the Chaps closed the cage on the Owls after a kill by Becker. The Chaps had 13 kills, 13 errors, and 48 total attacks in the second set.
With the momentum on COD’s side, the Chaps started strong, going up 10-5. However, the Owls flew back into contention after going on an 8-0 run, giving them the lead at 13-10. Dupage was on the ropes in the later stages of set three by being down 24-21 but bounced back right off them to make a comeback of themselves. In the final minutes of the game, the Chaps sealed the deal with a 5-0 run, decisively securing their victory and sending the Owls packing back to Des Plaines. In this last set, COD had 14 kills, 10 errors and 49 total attacks.
“Oakton was a good scrappy team; we were able to get through it. The theme of the day was let’s not fight ourselves, and they did a great job grinding it out,” stated Koskinaris.
“I think our defense was really good; we had the mindset of not letting the single ball drop, whether it was the first contact or trying to get it over,” said Hornbogen, who Koskinaris noted had a “career night.”
The Chaps left the game with a record of 12-9. Their next away game was against Wisconsin-Whitewater (Rock County) in Janesville, Wis. on Sept. 26. The Chaps totaled 40 kills and six service aces throughout the game. The final scores were 25-13, 25-20 and 25-8, leaving their record at 13-9. Their next home game is against Waubonsee Community College on Oct. 3 at 6 p.m.
