DeKALB – Sycamore was prepared.
The Spartans used their scouting reports on DeKalb, knew what holes the Barbs had, and went to work Thursday night in the teams' second meeting of the season.
Sycamore coach Debbie Klock said there were zones in the the Barbs' back row open, and added how when Sycamore attacked from its back row, DeKalb's middle was open.
Klock's team also started hitting around the Barbs' block, and used its scouting reports as an advantage in a 28-26, 25-21 victory.
"We knew their tendencies. They're younger," Klock said. "We should not have lost our first match. We're the senior team, and I want to say that it takes precedence and it should."
The win is the first time Sycamore (10-5, 4-2 Northern Illinois Big 12 East) has beaten DeKalb (21-5, 4-2 NI Big 12 East) since 2009.
"It's wonderful. It's the last time I'm playing them forever," Sycamore senior setter Ratasha Garbes said. "So it's great to come out (and win). We had a lot of support from the younger kids, they really wanted it for us. Us seniors know it's our last time. We really wanted it and [the underclassmen] really helped us, so it's really nice."
Garbes finished the match with three kills and three aces for the Spartans. Brittany Huber had eight kills and nine digs, and Hannah Knox finished with six kills and seven digs. Christina Dailey had eight digs for Sycamore.
Courtney Bemis had six kills and 10 digs for Dekalb, while Madison Lord finished with eight assists, six kills and three aces. Abby Hickey had six kills and three aces for the Barbs, with Nicole Schladt adding 12 digs.
DeKalb coach Ben Fisher thought the Spartans just executed better than his team did Thursday night. When it came to defense, Fisher thought his team's opponent played well.
"Defensively they were much stronger than we were," he said. "They made a lot more defensive plays than we did. A lot of balls hit the ground that shouldn't have hit the ground."
Fisher also watched his team play with inconsistency on offense and in serve-receive.
"I thought we did some really, really nice things tonight when we were playing well," he said. "Again, we just were out of system too much and we struggled to find consistency in the things that we did well tonight. That was it."
With Sycamore's victory Thursday night, the Spartans move into a second-place tie with the Barbs in the NI Big 12 East. Yorkville stands at the top of the league with a 4-1 conference mark, and Sycamore will host Yorkville Tuesday. The Spartans gave the Foxes their only NI Big 12 loss earlier this season.
