Prep volleyball: Fenwick outlasts Alter, runs winning streak to six

It was a shaky start but a strong finish for the Fenwick High School volleyball team.

Despite losing the first set to an Alter team that rattled off 10 consecutive points for the win, the Falcons battled back for a 14-25, 25-5, 25-16, 21-25, 15-9 victory over the Knights Thursday night at Alter.

It marked the sixth consecutive win for the 9-3 Falcons.

“That’s a game we wouldn’t have won at the beginning of the year,” Fenwick coach Tyler Conley said. “We would have crumbled after the first set.”

The Falcons not only didn’t crumble, they dominated the second set. Senior defensive specialist Brooklyn Brunner got on a roll, serving 21 straight points as Fenwick translated a 4-3 deficit into a commanding 24-4 lead. Junior Julia Gardon, who leads the Falcons in kills, slammed in the final point of the set as the Greater Catholic League rivals were quickly knotted at one set apiece.

“We just fell apart in the second set,” Alter coach Tina Jasinowski said. “We’re having some struggles with mental toughness right now.”

While the home team was struggling, the visitors picked up where they left off as Fenwick jumped out to a 6-1 lead early in the third set. Strong serving — this time by setter Grace Maziar, who leads the Falcons in aces — boosted the visitors to a 16-6 lead, forcing Jasinowski to burn her second timeout. The teams traded side-outs, but the gap was too big and the Falcons took a 2-1 lead.

But the young Knights, with only a single senior on the roster, were not about to call it quits in front of their rowdy home crowd. Tied 18-18 late in the fourth set, Alter took advantage of a string of Fenwick errors to force a fifth set.

The Falcons’ dominance from the serving line continued in the final set as outside hitter Emma Schafer set the tone early with an ace and libero Bella DeSalvo capped the win at 15-9 the same way. The Falcons finished with 18 aces on the night, led by Brunner with seven.

“This was the best we’ve served all year,” Conley said. “The big thing in the second, third and fifth sets was that we limited our errors at the service line.”

Fenwick tallied 12 service errors on the night, six in the fourth set. Reducing errors across the board is a priority for the Falcons, who posted 53 in the match.

“That is far too many, but the fact that we were able to overcome the errors is what excites me,” Conley said.

The Knights were also plagued by errors, not a surprise to Jasinowski.

“We made significant changes before the McNicholas match, and we knew we would take some hits this week,” she said. “We’re still trying to figure some things out. I’m never going to be happy coming out of a loss, but I am happy with the progress we’ve made.”

At times, the Knights — who graduated seven players last season — had mostly freshmen and sophomores on the floor. Even junior setter Lindsey Rocco is only in her first season as a varsity starter.

“We have young kids in big spots,” Jasinowski said. “We had some good moments, some pieces of our game improved, but there is still work to be done.”

The Knights (7-7) have time to do some fine-tuning as they are next in action Tuesday at home against Carroll, while the Falcons are at Sycamore on Saturday.

Alter and Fenwick will face off again this season on the Falcons’ home court Oct. 9.

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