Despite a valiant effort, the Hawks were unable to defeat No. 1 Madison (Jim Cummins)

PALATINE, Ill. – The Harper College volleyball team was up to the challenge against No. 1 Madison College Thursday night, but the Hawks fell in four sets (14-25, 25-22, 18-25, 18-25).

"It's encouraging that I feel like we played much better," said Harper head coach Bob Vilsoet. "It was discouraging that we made so many unforced errors. We are still a very good, but inconsistent team. Madison is ranked No. 1 for a reason." 

After dropping the first set, the Hawks (11-11, 3-3 N4C) played a solid second set to nod the match at 1-1, something they were unable to do in their previous meeting on Aug. 24. However, the WolfPack responded with strong play and also took advantage of Harper mistakes with two 25-18 victories to close the match.

Veronica Dabrowski (Mount Prospect, Ill./Rolling Meadows) paced the attack for the Hawks with 10 kills, followed by Rebekah Hischke (Algonquin, Ill./Dundee Crown)'s eight kills. Lindsey Murphy (Lake in the Hills, Ill./Crystal Lake South) finished with 24 assists for Harper. Rebekah Hischke (Algonquin, Ill./Dundee Crown) (16-for-17),Lindsey Murphy (Lake in the Hills, Ill./Crystal Lake South) (17-for-18) and Kelly Spychala (Des Plaines, Ill./Elk Grove) (11-for-11) provided consistency in the service game while Dabrowski led the team with four service aces.

Libero Kelly Spychala (Des Plaines, Ill./Elk Grove) recorded a team-high 22 digs while Alex Messner (Hoffman Estates, Ill./Fremd) added 16 digs.

"We will hopefully continue to improve by practicing hard, watching video and fixing the mental aspects of the game," Vilsoet said.

On Friday and Saturday, No. 6 Harper hosts the 11-team Harper College Invitational, with teams from multiple states and multiple divisions arriving to play each other. For a full tournament schedule, click here.

Here's who Harper will play in four matches:

Friday 9/20: Harper vs. Black Hawk College 3:00 PM

Friday 9/20: Harper vs. John A. Logan College 5:00 PM

Saturday 9/21: Harper vs. Lincoln Land Community College 10:00 AM

Saturday 9/21: Harper vs. Marshalltown Community College 12:00 PM