Harper Volleyball 2014 Year in Review

PALATINE, Ill. – The Harper College volleyball team had another very successful year in 2014 with a number of team and individual accomplishments.

Team Accomplishments

The Hawks posted a 32-14 record this season and finished the year ranked No. 4 in the NJCAA poll. Harper’s most impressive wins came over No. 1 Madison College, No. 2 Rochester Community and Technical College, and No. 5 Central Lakes College – Brainerd. Harper defeated Madison, the eventual national champion, on Oct. 9 in four sets and won a five-set thriller over Rochester on Sept. 20 at the Harper College Invitational. At the Rock Valley Invitational, the Hawks defeated Central Lakes, also in a five-set thriller.

The Hawks’ most impressive stretch of play was from Sept. 30-Oct. 11, a stretch in which they won 10 straight matches. The 10-match winning streak was tied for the third-longest streak in Harper volleyball history. Harper also won five straight matches between Sept. 19-23.

Continuing its excellence this year, Harper College was 21-5 against Division II teams and 2-0 against Division I teams this year.

Several Harper College team records were broken or threatened this season.

· The team set a record for digs in a match with 143 against Bismarck State College in a close 5-set match in Rochester, MN, on Sept. 6.

· The Hawks totaled 684 rejections this year, the second-most for one season for a Harper team. This resulted in 270 block-kills.

· Harper’s 3,392 digs for the season is third-most in school history.

· 169 sets played is tied for third most sets played in one-year.

Individual Accomplishments

First-year libero Meghan Chartier (Inverness, Ill./Buffalo Grove) led the nation in digs with 850, and first-year setter Jillian Hoffman (Arlington Heights, Ill./Hersey) led the nation in both matches played (46) and sets played (166).

Chartier and setter Lindsey Murphy (Lake in the Hills, Ill./Crystal Lake South) etched their names in the record books for numerous Harper College individual records:

· Harper College Individual Single Season Digs Record: Meghan Chartier (Inverness, Ill./Buffalo Grove) 850 digs

· Harper College Digs in a 5-set Match Record: Meghan Chartier (Inverness, Ill./Buffalo Grove) 42 digs versus Ridgewater at Rock Valley Invite

· Harper College Career Record for Assists: Lindsey Murphy (Lake in the Hills, Ill./Crystal Lake South) [Central Lake South H.S.] 2,033; 3rd place all-time behind All-Americans Alyssa Cazzato [Bartlett H.S.] and Nikki Maize [Elk Grove H.S.]

· Harper College Career Record for Aces: Lindsey Murphy (Lake in the Hills, Ill./Crystal Lake South) 137; 2rd place all-time behind Lani Bradley [Dundee-Crown H.S.]. Lindsey is in good company - Lani Bradley is the ONLY Harper Hawk Volleyball player to earn her way to back-to-back National Tournament appearances

· Harper College Individual Most Serves in a Match: Lindsey Murphy (Lake in the Hills, Ill./Crystal Lake South) 35 service attempts v Rock Valley on 10/17/2014 (5 set match)

· Harper College Individual Career Record for Most Sets played: Lindsey Murphy (Lake in the Hills, Ill./Crystal Lake South) played 318 sets in two years

· · Harper College Individual Career Most Serves: Lindsey Murphy (Lake in the Hills, Ill./Crystal Lake South) 1,450 service attempts in two years

Several players earned All-Tournament Team honors throughout the course of the season:

· COD (Aug 23-24) All-Tournament Team - Lindsey Murphy (Lake in the Hills, Ill./Crystal Lake South), Meghan Chartier (Inverness, Ill./Buffalo Grove)

· Harper (Sep 20-21) All-Tournament Team - Kim Butler (Palatine, Ill/Palatine) [Palatine H.S.], Meghan Chartier (Inverness, Ill./Buffalo Grove)

· Harper Invitational (Oct 5) All-Tournament Team - Meghan Chartier (Inverness, Ill./Buffalo Grove), Jill Hoffman

· Lincoln Land Invitational (Oct 11-12) - Meghan Chartier (Inverness, Ill./Buffalo Grove)

Libero Meghan Chartier (Inverness, Ill./Buffalo Grove), Middle Hitter Daniele Sortino (Elk Grove Village, Ill. /Elk Grove) [Conant H.S.] and Outside Hitter Lauren Sokolowski (Rolling Meadows, Ill./Rolling Meadows) [Rolling Meadows H.S.] were named to the North Central Community College Conference (N4C) All-Conference Team.

Meghan Chartier (Inverness, Ill./Buffalo Grove) and Daniele Sortino (Elk Grove Village, Ill. /Elk Grove) were named to the NJCAA Region IV All-Region Team.

Meghan Chartier (Inverness, Ill./Buffalo Grove) was also named to the NJCAA Region IV All-Tournament Team.

The team voted setter Lindsey Murphy (Lake in the Hills, Ill./Crystal Lake South) as the team’s Most Valuable Player.