It was a special sophomore night at Sauk Valley Community College on Wednesday, as eight Skyhawks played their final regular-season game on Russ Damhoff Court with a few streaks on the line.

The result was the same as in all of their previous matches at home: a dominant victory. Sauk beat Kishwaukee 25-15, 25-16, 25-16 to push their home record to 7-0, losing just one set in those matches.

In the last two seasons, the Skyhawks never lost a match at home, notched back-to-back 10-0 records in the Arrowhead Conference, were ranked in every NJCAA top-25 poll, and now sit 40-2 in regional matches. The Region IV Tournament starts next week, with Sauk hosting a quarterfinal match Wednesday.

All 13 Skyhawks contributed to the win. Nine different players recorded a kill, every back-row player had at least one dig, and the sophomores set the tone with a strong first set.

“It’s really nice being able to take control right away, even when we didn’t play a normal rotation. We played all our sophomores and everybody was able to contribute,” sophomore Jess Johns said. “I think we’re a very balanced team all-around. I don’t feel like we have any specific weak spots. I think that really helps play into it a lot, normal rotation or not. We’re pretty versatile at every position.

“Out of normal rotations, people can get frazzled, but I think we did a relatively good job of getting big leads right from the beginning.”

Sauk (26-12) never trailed in the first or third sets and didn’t fall behind by more than two points in the second. A combination of kills, blocks and aces from several players kept Kishwaukee at bay before the Skyhawks pulled away in each set.

“It’s always great to get a good start to a set, because it gets our energy up more and brings us more together,” said sophomore Claire Reymer, who has missed the past few weeks with a knee injury but gutted it out to play on sophomore night. “It’s really nice that we can just throw anyone in and they can contribute.”

That was a theme all night: whoever was inserted into the lineup had a hand in the win. After a first set filled exclusively with sophomores, every freshman who entered the match over the next two sets made plays to help secure the victory.

“It was so fun to have everybody get in the game tonight,” sophomore Kenna Wubbena said. “We have a pretty small team, so we’re all very close, and we’ve played a ton of games this season, so we’ve all just gotten really good at playing together.

“And Claire hasn’t played for a while because her knee’s been bothering her, so for her to come in and get a bunch of kills tonight, it was so fun to see that. It’s just so awesome, especially on sophomore night and one of our last home games. It was a lot of fun.”

The connection from back row to front row was strong all night, as passes were consistently on-target for setters Denali Stonitsch and Miraya Pessman to set up Sauk’s cadre of hitters.

“The reason why I can give a good set and we can put the ball down is because our back row is so good. I trust every single one of them back there, and they did amazing tonight,” Stonitsch said. “On offense, I feel like our team is very good collectively, so no matter who we put in, I feel like the ball is going to be put down. Coming from everybody tonight – even Claire, who hasn’t played in so long, and she came in and did amazing – it was really nice to see.”

Stonitsch led the Skyhawks with 19 assists, 12 points, seven aces and six digs. Johns added a team-high seven kills to go with four digs and a block, and Erie-Prophetstown alums Reymer and Maggie Richetta both had six kills. Reymer added a block, and Wubbena had four kills, four digs, six points and three aces. Pessman had nine assists, eight points, three aces and two kills, and ReAnna Brant added three kills and two blocks. Carli Kobbeman finished with four digs, Kailee Wiliams and Mady Tichler each had two kills, and Reese Burgwald chipped in five digs.

“If our back row is on, our setting is on, and if our setting is on, our hitting is on. It’s really nice that we can all trust each other to do our jobs,” Johns said. “I think that speaks to the talent we have as a team all across the board.”

Brooklyn Rylko led Kishwaukee with seven kills and two blocks, and Cara Fant and Kennedy Adamski each added five kills. Adamski also had two blocks, five points and two aces. AFC grad Kaelynn Larson had three kills, and Lily Roach dished 19 assists for the Kougars.