The College of DuPage took on Joliet Junior College for the third time this season, looking to claim a win after losing their previous two games. The Chaps would need the win to take a step closer to an off-season NJCAA Region IV Tournament. COD swept the game with a final score of 3-0, blocking JJC from getting a firm grasp on the lead.
The Chaps and the Wolves previous encounters resulted in the Chaps emerging victorious both times. The first game finished with a COD sweep 3-0, and the second finished in a little bit of a closer match 3-1. DuPage is coming into the match with a 17-14 record, while Joliet sits at 13-21.
The Chaparrals started with a 3-0 run thanks to Francesca Brandonisio, who had a few hard serves that the Wolves couldn’t return. Joliet being down 9-4 early on, they decided to call their first timeout of the set in an attempt to regroup. The Wolves did just that and went on an 8-1 run to propel them into the lead with the score at 12-10. COD would call a timeout to regroup as well. After the COD timeout, the teams were neck and neck for the rest of the set. The Chaps pulled away at the end, going on a 4-1 run, at which point Joliet called their second and last timeout of the first set. Even with the time out by Joliet, the Chaps didn’t lift their foot off the pedal and finished the first with a score of 25-22. COD has 5 kills, 2 errors and 20 total attacks in the first set.
At the beginning of the second set, the Wolves and the Chaps were going back and forth until Joliet went on a 3-0 run, giving them a lead of 12-9. COD called a timeout to try to put a stop to the Wolves’ momentum. Unfortunately, the Wolves pushed after the timeout and went on a 6-0 run to bring their lead to 9 (18-9). DuPage would be forced to call their second and final timeout of the set. After the second timeout was called, COD went on an 8-1 run to bring themselves back in the game (20-17), and Joliet would call their first timeout. DuPage would string together a couple of points to give them the lead 21-20. The Chaps finished off the Wolves 25-22. In the second set, the Chaps had 17 kills, 14 errors and 58 total attacks.
In a must-win set for Joliet, COD came out on fire, going up 14-7. The Wolves clawed back, but COD pulled farther away, sitting at 18-11 when Joliet called their first timeout of set three. The Wolves rallied back but the Chaps slammed the door in their face, winning the final set 25-19. DuPage had 8 kills, 4 errors and 27 total attacks.
“Our focus right now is to continue to learn how to win, and the way you do that is not comfortable with any lead, and I think we showed that in the first and the set, but in the second set we had to kick start it,” said assistant coach Frankie Martinez.
After the win, the Chaparrals took on Harper College on Oct. 24. After winning the first set, the Chaps lost momentum and the Hawks swooped in to claim the second set. Determined to make it to the playoff season, COD fought back and won the next two sets, claiming a final victory for their last game of the season. The final scores were 25-23, 20-25, 25-20 and 25-18 and the Chaps finished with a total of five service aces, 50 kills and 47 assists.
During the last home game of the regular season, COD also took time to celebrate the sophomores of the team. Josephine Becker, Camila Fundora, Rory Geroux, Jayde Grant, Daia Neerhof, Jillian Ross, Christina Savaglio and Alyssa Schillaci were honored during COD’s sophomore night pre-game ceremony.
The Chaps left the game with a record of 19-14 and moved on to the NJCAA Region IV Tournament. They will play their first playoff game at home against Joliet Junior College on Oct 30 at 6:00 p.m.
