Eyes wide shut: Alicia Pierre comes up big with nine blocks as Jacobs slips past Burlington Central. ‘I hope for the best.’
Pierre #Pierre
Junior middle hitter Alicia Pierre stands only 5-foot-7, yet she still finds a way to be an intimidating presence for Jacobs.
How does she do it?
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“My vertical is one of the best things about me,” Pierre said. “The way I get my blocks, I just have to line up with the hitter. I hope for the best.
“I sometimes close my eyes when I’m blocking — like please get this block.”
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After Jacobs rallied Thursday night for a 19-25, 25-23, 26-24 Fox Valley Conference victory at Burlington Central, Pierre could open her eyes.
What she saw were nine blocks on the stat sheet and a win the Golden Eagles (4-7, 2-4) hope can stabilize what has been an up-and-down start to the season.
“‘Ali’ had a great game blocking,” Jacobs coach Mike Depa said. “She was blocking like crazy and also swinging. She just has crazy jumps. She has a great eye for the ball.”
Pierre played mostly on the JV level last season as the senior-laden Golden Eagles won their first regional title in 13 years.
She did get to practice with that group, however, in advance of her expanded role this season.
“Last year when she was on JV, her thing was she wanted to get this many kills or this many blocks,” Depa said. “She sets herself goals. She wants to keep improving.
“She knows the system. That totally helps.”
Pierre took as much from that historic team as she could.
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“They kind of helped me not be afraid,” Pierre said. “It was a huge season. I feel like the memory of that motivates us, how far we went, how great our players that our gone were. We strive to be like them.”
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Early during Thursday’s match, it looked like it could be a long day for Jacobs.
Burlington Central (3-4, 2-4) dominated the first game as Brooke Hoffman had six kills, a block and an ace.
The Golden Eagles countered in the second game by taking advantage of holes in the Rockets’ serve receive. Four aces contributed to an 8-0 run for an 11-6 lead.
Even though the Rockets roared back to cut the lead to 24-23, Jacobs held on.
The third game played out in a similar fashion. The Rockets led 14-9, only to see Jacobs mount a huge comeback.
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“We were coming off a really strong win at Crystal Lake South,” Burlington Central coach Julia Smagacz said of Tuesday’s match. “We talked in the huddle that the fight and the drive we had at South wasn’t as strong (Thursday).
“We really needed it to be. The games were so close. We just had to turn it up a little bit. We just couldn’t.”
Lea Freesemann and Hoffman each finished with eight kills for Burlington Central. Ashley Arceo and Sarah Jack added 15 assists apiece.
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The Rockets are hoping to find some stability.
“This was not the first loss we had like this,” Smagacz said. “We’ve been a little up and down this season. We’ve been able to pull out wins after some tough losses.”
Teagan Van Stone led Jacobs with six kills and three blocks. Isabella Spychala added five kills. Yvonne Iskrev had five blocks and four aces.
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Kate Wilson had 22 digs and Pierre added four kills and four digs for the Golden Eagles, who started the season slowly, incorporating nearly an entirely new lineup.
Things have turned, however, in the past three matches — all wins.
“It’s a new team this year, so it’s a lot of new faces trying to figure out who fits where and getting that chemistry down,” Depa said. “This can build a lot.
“We’ve played with a lot more energy the past few matches.”
Paul Johnson is a freelance reporter for The Beacon-News.