Issy Smith got into a zone on Thursday evening.

The DeKalb senior delivered nine straight service points against Kaneland in the second set and the Barbs used that momentum to sweep the Knights, 25-22, 25-19, for their first win of the season.

[ Photos: DeKalb, Kaneland volleyball teams meet in nonconference action ]

“When you’re serving I feel like you really have to focus on making it over the net and getting into the zone so that your team can continue to play,” she said “Serving is very important because it starts the play so you have to be able to do that.”

DeKalb (1-2) sealed the victory in the second set after Kaneland senior Emma Katz’s serve landed outside the court boundaries. 

Kaneland (1-6) struggled with its serving, committing eight errors on serves, including five in the opening set.

“Serving has been a bit of an issue in games, but in practice we’ve been fine with serves,” Knights senior Zoe Kraus said. “I think it’s more of a mental thing. We’re trying to overcome it. We need to take a deep breath, take our time and focus on getting it in the court.”

The Knights have dropped six straight.

“I think we’re seeing progress since the very beginning of the season,” Knights senior Grace Remsen said. “We need to come into games and show what’s happening in practice in games. I know a lot of our teammates are scared to make mistakes, but volleyball is a game of mistakes and that’s how you learn.”

An ace by Kaneland junior Brielle Gadomski had given the Knights a 10-7 lead in the second set before Smith went on her run, which included three of her four aces.

“She made some great plays and it makes you want to play the game,” DeKalb junior Jordan Grant said. “It makes you inspired. I wanted to be out there and do whatever I could for my team, blocking, hitting or serving.”

The Barbs fell behind 5-0 in the opening set but bounced right back to tie it up at 5-5. 

After Kaneland senior Abi Carter’s ace cut DeKalb’s lead to 23-22 in the opening set, the Barbs answered with a kill from Grant followed by a blistering serve from junior Maddi Hollar that the Knights couldn’t return.

“We didn’t come in here cocky thinking we would win, we fought for our win,” Smith said. “We played them over the summer and beat them, too, so we were positive coming here. I think our team is going to really enjoy this win over Kaneland.”

Grant led the Barbs with seven kills and Smith and junior Meila Robinson had five kills apiece. Hollar had 17 assists, five digs and four aces and senior libero Molly Fell had nine digs, two aces and two assists.

“We came in here with a mindset that we’re going to win this game, that we’re going to put our all in and try our best,” Grant said. “We were going to come out with a good outcome whether we won or lost knowing we put our best foot forward on that court and that we had the ability to beat them. This year we’re already playing like we would at mid-year, mid-season last year.”

Sacrifices over the summer are now paying off for the Barbs.

“We’re coming out here with a different fire in us because we did work hard in the summer,” Grant said. “We gave up vacations and hanging out with friends for this season so now we’re going to show the fruits of our labor, show what we’ve been doing since May.”