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Sports

Stagg Runs Out of Gas Against Lockport

Injuries, illness take their toll as the Chargers drop a hotly contested volleyball match to Lockport.

The last thing the Stagg volleyball team needed was to lose another player.

But that's exactly what happened to the Chargers on Thursday night, as senior libero Katie Merigold was overcome by heat before a decisive Game 3 in a sweltering Lockport Central gym.

The Chargers never could find the flow in the third game and dropped a 25-22, 17-25, 25-17 decision to Lockport in the Southwest Suburban crossover clash.

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Stagg (3-4) was without two key sophomores — outside hitter Ali Conrad (sprained ankle) and libero Morgan Thomas (sprained wrist). Both hope to be back in action next week, as does Merigold, who became ill after the second game and had to sit near the door of the old gym to get some air during much of the third game.

"She had some dizziness and wasn't feeling well," Stagg coach Shannan Sisk said. "We already had two people out and were definitely short-handed.

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"But that's no excuse. Lockport played good defense at the end and they always are a great defensive team. But this was a winnable match. We didn't make the adjustments and were sloppy. That is something we have to work on."

Things looked good for the Chargers after the big Game 2 win. In that game, they rallied from a  3-0 deficit with a 10-2 burst. Emily Santos capped off the run with an ace, which was a sign of things to come for the senior setter. She finished with 19 service points.

Stagg extended to a 14-7 lead, but the Porters (1-1) roared back with a 7-1 run to close within 15-14. Lockport did tie the game twice, at 16-16 and at 17-17, but Stagg dominated the rest of the game. A second ball kill by sophomore setter/outside hitter Jill Conrad (11 kills, 10 assists, 9 points, 3 blocks) put the Chargers back on serve and Santos never surrendered it. Conrad served the final seven points.

Senior middle hitter Lina Survilaite had a block and a kill and the Porters made a couple of errors during the stretch, but Santos was the star of the surge as she served a trio of aces, including one to start it and one to end it.

"It was crazy," Santos said. "I just heard everyone cheering me on and it was a confidence booster. The team really helped me with that.

"Lockport is a good team. We had key players out and didn't have the result we wanted, but we could see them again."

In Game 3, it was all Porters as they jumped out to another 3-0 lead and this time maintained control. The closest the Chargers got was 5-4, on a kill by senior middle/right-side hitter Donata Taskunaite (9 kills, 3 blocks, 7 points).

Senior outside hitter Alexis Davito (11 kills, 14 points, 3 aces, 6 digs) then put down a kill and served an ace in a 6-0 burst that gave the Porters an 11-4 lead. Stagg never got closer than five points the rest of the way, the last time at 17-12.

Davito put down the match-ending kill. Junior middle hitter Anna Bryniarski added seven kills, 12 good serve-receives, 11 points (with an ace) and 10 digs. Sophomore setter Katie Tabisz dished out 23 assists for Lockport.

The match started well for Stagg as freshman outside hitter Megan Hearne (3 kills, 12 points, 11 digs) had two kills and an ace in an opening 4-1 run that helped the Chargers jump out to an 8-4 lead.

Stagg still led 15-13 when Lockport went on a 10-2 burst, including a 6-0 run at the end, to take the lead for good. Trailing 24-18, Stagg saved four game points, including a kill by Taskunaite, an ace by Merigold and a block by Conrad. But Bryniarski tipped a kill at the net to give the Porters the opener.

The last time the Chargers defeated Lockport in a regularly scheduled match was a 25-21, 24-26, 25-17 victory on Oct. 17, 2007. The Porters have lost only one SWSC match — in the Blue Division or in crossover — since then. That was a 25-21, 25-22 setback to Sandburg last season on Oct. 6.

In last year's Stagg-Lockport match, on Sept. 3, the Porters rallied past Stagg by the score of 21-25, 25-18, 25-19.

"We've met in some tournaments, too," Sisk said. "I really enjoy playing them and wish we were still able to schedule them twice in a season.

"We always seem to go three with them. I just wish we would have played better (Thursday). We have to be more consistent."

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