ROCKTON—The Harlem boys volleyball team snapped NIC-10 rival Hononegah’s 42-match winning streak in conference play with a thrilling three-set victory on Thursday night.
If you talked Indians’ sophomore Jack Allen you wouldn’t even know it.
“I wish we would've come out on top, but we'll get them next time,” the outside hitter simply said.
It’s not that Allen doesn’t have a competitive drive — quite the opposite if you were to watch him on the court. It’s just that he is too sure of what he and his teammates are capable of to sweat one setback.
“There's some things we can improve on,” Allen continued. “Our serving was a little rough throughout the night. But, our blocking was just getting better over time. Towards the end, we were all just filled with energy. It was a pretty exciting moment. I do think that next time we can really take them on, hopefully beat them in two (sets) and take first in conference.”
Ait’s not like the three-time defending NIC-10 champions went down without a fight. The set scores of 20-25, 26-24, 25-27 is more than enough evidence of that.
“Sometimes in life, and this is what I told them, it's not always about the wins and losses,” head coach Annie Curran said. “My kids excelled better than I could have imagined tonight. So, I don't look at it as a loss.”
The last time Hononegah had fallen to a NIC-10 opponent? May 11, 2021 against Rockford Guilford.
Some early points on Thursday off the hands of Allen, junior Nolan Mowers and Will Dennison helped the Indians keep pace with Harlem, who they trailed 20-17 late in the first set.
But Davon Johnson delivered three booming kills and the Huskies’ powerful strikes helped Harlem score the next five points and win the set.
But Hononegah’s defense, led by libero Noah Duer, quickly adjusted and prevented the Huskies from going off on another dominating run like that.
“They were trying to predict, based on past experiences with these players, what they would do,” Curran said. “Instead, they just needed to react. There was a lot of conversation about that and playing in the moment. That was how we were able to step up and own leadership in the back row.”
It was a game of points coming from the opponents’ errors rather than kills, blocks or aces for much of the second set. After Harlem jumped out to a 4-0 lead, a Hononegah block and a kill from junior Carter Freedlund helped tie it back up. From there the two teams changed leads three more times and were tied up 14 different times.
Tied at 21, Freedlund scored points on three kills, junior setter Owen Rollinson delivered a nice tip over the net and Allen’s strike found Harlem’s floor to force a third set.
“Carter just goes up and bam! Right down the line,” Allen said. “He jumps so high and is just so strong. I do not want to be on the other side of that when he's swinging.”
The Indians took a 6-2 lead in the final set off a block and kill from junior Will Dennison, who led the charge of that powerful net presence that Allen alluded to earlier.
But as they did all night, Harlem fought back and eventually cut it to 14-13. Allen had a duo of kills to help make it 17-13, but it became a tie game at 19.
Harlem tied it back up at 20 and 21 before taking a 22-21 lead on a Matthew Bechtol kill. Allen’s kill put it back at a draw, a Huskies’ service error made it 23-all and the Indians took a 25-24 lead off a block and error.
But a Harlem block, a Hononegah block error and line violation on the Indians surged the Huskies ahead for the win.
Allen finished with 11 kills, six of those coming in the third set.
“Jack’s one of the best six-rotation outsides I’ve seen in a long time,” Curran said. “He’s very consistent and level-headed. Volleyball runs in his blood, and his volleyball IQ is just fantastic.”
Freedlund had eight kills while Rollinson paced the Indians in assists.
And after the fight the Indians showed Allen again and again, it’s no wonder he is keeping his cool.
“We're out here to prove something,” he said. “Not just to play volleyball, but to win something for our school.”
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