Knights play lights out vs. Bremen

Winners of their first seven matches to begin the season, it's safe to say the Chicago Christian Knights have gotten into a rhythm.

Since dropping the second game of their season-opening match against Oak Lawn, the Knights have rattled off 13 straight games without a loss.

Hosting a Bremen team playing its first match game of the season on Monday, Chicago Christian overcame early struggles to keep the hot play going, winning 25-16, 25-11 in Palos Heights.

"For the most part, that game we lost against Oak Lawn was first-game jitters," Chicago Christian coach James Garcia said. "We've been working on a lot of new things, and when the girls get on the court, they want to be aggressive."

Bremen came out firing in its opener, going up 7-2 behind two aces from Bianca Hull and kills from Hull and Julie Velcich (three solo blocks).

Supported by a boisterous home crowd, Chicago Christian scored 12 of the next 13 points to go up 14-8.

Responding with two aces from junior captain Alexa Smerz, Bremen clawed back to within three points at 16-13, but the Knights were able to put together another run to close out the first game.

Chicago Christian scored eight of the last 10 points and closed out Game 1 with kills from Lizzi Kamp and Kirsten Harms after a Bremen timeout.

"We came out aggressive, and then we had a few mental mistakes," Bremen coach Keri Larson said. "Against a team like (Chicago Christian), you can't have those."

Both teams struggled out of the gate in the second game, but the Knights regrouped first. Chicago Christian scored 13 of 15 points to go up 14-4.

Never able to string together more than two points, Bremen was unable to mount a comeback and the Knights closed out the match, their 13th game in a row without a loss.

"We tell the girls during practice to make sure they're focused in our game, our strategy," Garcia said. "Every game it's pass, set, hit. If we focus on the pass, we can do anything with our offense."

Kamp led the Knights with seven kills while Harms and Madison Kamp contributed five kills apiece.

Smerz led Bremen with three kills.

Their first game behind them, the Braves can now focus on the rest of the season.

"This is always our very first game of the season so I think it was a little bit of nerves and a new group of kids working together," Larson said. "It's going to take them a little while."