The Immaculate Conception girls volleyball team bounced back from a tough first set to outlast Lisle 24-26, 25-22, 25-21 in the Class 2A Westmont Regional semifinals Wednesday.
But the Knights (26-11), lost its regional playoff game Thursday against top-seeded Timothy Christian High School by a score of 2-0.
IC leaders in Wednesday’s victory included Delaney D'Amore (9 killls, 15 digs), Kimmie Martino (6 kills, 4 blocks, 5 assists), Juliette Ambrogi and Jen Clementi (5 kills, 6 blocks each), Kellyanne Remy (5 kills, 5 blocks) and Emily Hartnett (5 kills) and Liz Martino (14 assists).
The Knights trailed 24-20 in the first set but three service points from Kathleen Ryan, concluding with an ace, tied it 24-24. The No. 2 Lions got a kill off serve receive for a sideout and closed out the set on an IC attack error.
In its regional opener, IC defeated No. 6 Aurora Christian 25-10, 25-11 Tuesday behind D'Amore (5 killls, 7 digs, block), Ryan (12 digs), Hartnett (4 kills, 5 aces) and Liz Martino (9 digs, 2 aces).
Football
The Immaculate Conception football team (5-4) will visit Winnebago (7-2) at 1 p.m. Saturday (Oct. 29) in the opening round of the Class 3A state playoffs.
The Knights are the No. 6 seed in their half of the 32-team bracket. If they win, the Knights will play at home in the second round against No. 2 Rockridge (8-1) or No. 7 Wilmington (6-3).
The Knights, who received one victory by forfeit, lost to all three opponents that reached the playoffs (Suburban Christian Conference Gold Division champion Aurora Christian, St. Francis and Marmion). In their five victories played, the Knights outscored opponents an average of 37.6 to 4.8 points with two shutouts.
IC is making playoff appearances in consecutive years for the first time since 1990-92 under Jack Lewis. Last year, the Knights lost in the second round to Stillman Valley 43-21.
No. 3-seed Winnebago put up 60, 75 and 76 points in three victories this year and beat playoff team Oregon 14-12 in the regular-season finale while losing to both other playoff qualifiers (Stillman Valley and Richmond-Burton) by just a combined 10 points. The Indians, making their third straight playoff trip, lost their 2010 playoff opener to Wilmington 55-26.
Cross country
The Immaculate Conception girls and boys cross country teams will be represented at the Class 1A Lisle Sectional Saturday (Oct. 29).
The girls, who qualified for sectionals as a team for the first time in program history, will race at 10 a.m. Junior Brian Anzures was an individual qualifier for the boys race at 11 a.m.
