As Kaneland’s libero, senior Zoe Kraus wanted the ball during Tuesday’s Interstate 8 Conference match against Sycamore in Maple Park.

She primarily had her eyes tuned to Sycamore’s Khiara Thomas, and Kraus turned away a few of her potential kills during a 25-15, 16-25, 25-23 Kaneland victory.

“At the beginning of the match, it was tough. She was getting me on my left side, and I couldn’t really adjust to her because in previous matches they were all hitting on the right side of me,” Kraus said. “So it was hard to adjust, but I had confidence from my team and confidence from coaches who said you got to adjust to her and cheat over a little bit.

“Once I did and got in a zone, it slowed down for me, and I was able to make those passes.”

Kaneland (6-16, 2-1) took a 23-20 lead in the decisive third set after an extended volley in which Kraus made two huge digs on sinking blasts off Thomas’ potent right hand.

“Zoe got on her finally and started digging those balls,” Kaneland coach Cyndi Violett said. “She was so determined to get that one girl so bad, and that was her goal for the night, to dig her up.”

The Knights took a 12-10 lead in the final set after a point from Grace Remsen followed by a point off a desperate hit from Brielle Gadomski that dropped untouched between a few Spartans.

“I just thought to put the ball over any way possible for the point,” she said of her set-like return. “We just had to push. We had a lot of energy, and that energy just made us push through, and we always know how to talk and how to get the ball over.”

Kaneland freshman Eliza Bruhl’s kill provided the winning point for the Knights. More importantly, she looks to be filling a void as the calendar turns to October.

“She is a huge impact on our team,” Kraus said. “She gets there on serve-receive, her hitting is amazing, and she has a real strong arm, which I think that is the last piece - somebody to put the ball down when the ball is out of system. She definitely does that for us and has a great attitude.”

Sycamore (9-8, 1-2) got a couple aces from Lana Walker late in the second set as the Spartans pulled away to force the third set.

“Just too many lulls, too many runs,” Sycamore coach Jennifer Charles said. “I think overall our offense did really well. If we can get our service-receive how we played earlier this season, we’ll be fine.”

The Spartans were without senior middle hitters Laney Block and Sophia Martinez due to injuries.

“I thought Ava (Wente-Argo) did a very good job as far as coming in with us down two senior middles, and she stepped in with Maddie (Madilyn Patton), which was very nice,” Charles said. “I think Maggie Hasselbring came in and played well. I thought Khiara (Thomas) had a good start at the beginning of the match. I think she did a good job of creating her shots.”