After sailing to an opening set victory Tuesday at Streator’s Pops Dale Gymnasium, the Wilmington girls volleyball team hit choppy waters in the second set – some self-inflicted, some caused by high-energy play from the host Bulldog Spikers .

The Wildcats needed to recapture their first-set form to avoid a winner-takes-the-match third set. That’s exactly what they did, winning nine of the final 11 rallies in a 25-15, 26-24 triumph that keeps Wilmington in the hunt for the Illinois Central Eight Conference title and deals a ding to Streator’s hopes of a third-place finish.

“I feel like we got down really quick [in the second set]. Sometimes that happens,” Wildcats senior setter/right-side hitter Molly Southall said. “But one thing about us is, I feel we always finish strong. Even if w

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