GRAYSLAKE — The Carl Sandburg College volleyball team reached its sixth consecutive region title match but came up just short of its second straight national tournament with a 25-18, 26-28, 25-15, 25-21 loss to McHenry County on Sunday in the Region IV Division II District B championship.
The reigning champion Chargers, who finish the season with a 25-16 record, advanced to the title match after earning a pair of sweeps in their first two matchups of the tournament. Fourth-seeded Sandburg defeated Morton 25-17, 25-15, 25-19 in Saturday’s quarterfinals, then knocked off No. 1 seed Moraine Valley 25-17, 25-18, 25-10 in the semifinals Sunday morning.
Against the third-seeded Scots, who came in ranked No. 16 in the country, the Chargers evened the match at a set apiece after falling into an early hole. Sandburg trailed 17-13 in the second before rattling off 10 of the next 11 points for a 23-18 advantage. McHenry County answered with a 5-0 run to tie the set at 23, and the Chargers had four set points before they were finally able to clinch it.
The Scots won the third set, and the teams were tied at 18 in the fourth before McHenry County won four of the next five points to pull ahead for good.
Jadyn Swan (Peoria, Ill./Limestone) had a team-high 14 kills in the match with a .500 hitting percentage on 26 attacks. Sophomore Carley Reeves-Eakins (Branson, Mo./Reeds Spring) added 12 kills, nine digs, two aces and two blocks for Sandburg, helping earn her a spot on the all-tournament team.
Carmyn Baldwin (Lewistown, Ill./Lewistown) had 35 assists for the Chargers, and Jasmin McDaniel (Peoria, Ill./Richwoods) had 21 digs. Baldwin also reached double figures in digs (13), and Gracie Rademacker (Green Valley, Ill./Midwest Central) picked up 14 digs.
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