Visiting Coal City topped the Streator Bulldog Spikers at Pops Dale Gymnasium in Streator on Thursday night, both sets highly contested with the Coalers winning the first 25-18 and the second 26-24 to improve their record to 3-4-1 overall and 1-1 in the Illinois Central Eight Conference.

In the opening set, Streator got the first point of the game off a net violation, then Coal City got the second off a service error to tie things 1-1.

Coal City began to take control after a block by Ashlyn Siron made the score 6-3. After taking a 9-6 lead, Coal City’s dominance continued for the rest of the first set, as it built a 13-8 lead. Coalers junior middle hitter Margaret Carlson served an ace to make the score 20-15, and senior opposite hitter Riley Walker put away a kill to make it 21-15.

The Bulldogs tried to fight back with a block by sophomore middle blocker Malea Zavada after Carlson served another ace to make it 22-16. Coal City would reach set point at 24-16 after senior setter Jaela Vasquez served an ace.

“We really showed who Coal City are, because we all played as a team and not for ourselves,” said sophomore middle hitter Margaret Carlson, who served up three aces on the night. “We really stepped it up and really brought out the energy for our entire team.”

Two consecutive hitting errors in the second set from the Bulldogs gave the Coalers their third win of the season.

The loss drops Streator to 6-2 on the season, 1-1 in the Illinois Central Eight Conference. It was also Streator’s second loss in a row.

The Coalers were helped in the passing game by senior setter Sydney Larson, who led the Coalers with 14 assists and three kills.

“I thought everyone’s energy was super high,” Larson said. “ I thought everyone came ready to play. I’m so beyond proud of our hitters, how well they have been working.”

Streator tried to bounce back in the second set by taking an early 2-0 lead off two hitting errors by Coal City. Streator managed to build its lead to 5-2, but the Coalers defense did not let the Bulldogs take advantage.

Coal City coach Pam McMurtrey believed the Coalers’ desire to get a win helped motivate the team.

“The girls really wanted to win. They wanted to play with heart” McMurtrey said. “We played pretty flat on Tuesday (against Lisle). We didn’t play our game, and we talked a lot yesterday about how we’re going to make it work, how with excitement, with energy this conference is going to be up in the air, because I think a lot of teams are going to be pretty even.

“So we were on tonight.”

Streator coach Julie Gabehart believes the Bulldogs’ passing was off tonight, and Coal City’s defense was able to take advantage.

“If you can’t get the ball to your center on a consistent basis to get off strong attacks, we’re going to pay. So we need to pass better,” Gabehart said. “I think Coal City played extremely well. They did not let much hit the floor, and as I said, we did not have our best match tonight.”