NORMAL - First-game leads of 17-8 and 20-12 were distant memories for the Normal Community High School volleyball team as Champaign Centennial served for game point four times Thursday night.

Then the Ironmen remembered who they are, a hard-serving, clean-passing outfit, which proceeded to hand the Chargers their second loss of the season, a 29-27, 25-14 setback.

"I think it was just focus and determination on the part of everybody," said Illinois State-recruit Jenny Menendez of the home team's first-game survival. "We just pulled through.

"When we came out on the court (in the second game), we thought they were going to fire back at us."

But the Chargers, whose only other loss was to Bloomington, fired mostly blanks as NCHS improved to 20-5 overall and remained second in the Big 12 Conference at 6-1.

"From my perspective, I think defense and serve receive definitely broke down," said University of Illinois-bound libero Rachel Feldman of the Ironmen's first-game swoon.

"We started hesitating a little. In our heads, we thought we had it. Our setters (Jackie and Vanessa Gerig) definitely played well. They helped pick up when I was struggling and others were struggling."

Jackie Gerig finished with 12 assists while Menendez provided eight kills, 11 service points, four aces and eight digs. Feldman also had eight digs while Paige Lay chipped in eight kills and Megan Harcharik three blocks.

"Serving is one of our strengths as a team," said NCHS coach Natalie Sutimek. "We served really, really well tonight."

Among the few exceptions came as NCHS served into the net while Centennial (24-2, 6-2) took leads of 25-24 and 27-26 in the first game. Menendez kills averted both game points. The other game points were negated by a Harcharik kill and a Liz Heid kill.

A Menendez ace gave NCHS a 28-27 lead before a Lay kill on a back set ended the scoring.

"We got calmed down and were able to pull that game out and we passed fine in the second game," said Sutimek, whose team takes plenty of momentum into today and Saturday's Glenbard East Autumn Fest Invitational.

"The last week and a half, we've been playing the best we have all year. I'm thrilled with how everyone is doing."

BHS turns back Lincoln

Georgia Tech recruit Ashley Beyer hammered a match-high 11 kills and added seven digs as Bloomington High School recorded a 25-19, 25-16 nonconference win over host Lincoln on Thursday.

Kristen Stauter dished out a match-high 18 assists for the Raiders (28-4) while Kasey Heckelman scored nine service points and Alli Kirk chipped in seven digs.

"We are playing consistent ball," said BHS coach Joe Sanders. "We stepped up tonight in the second game. We kept the momentum."

Lincoln (15-12) was led by Samantha Lowman with seven service points and nine digs. Ashley Bonaparte handed out 13 assists and Jamie McFadden registered seven kills for the Railsplitters.

U High rolls

Ashlee Sang registered match highs with 12 service points and 10 digs as University High School remained undefeated in Corn Belt Conference play with a 25-10, 25-9 win over Prairie Central at Fairbury.

Maggie Bee dished out 17 assists for the Pioneers (21-6, 12-0) while Carly Schumacher hammered eight kills. Prairie Central (7-15-2, 2-10) was led by Kenber Galloway with two kills and five blocks.

Saints earn road win

Megan Schmidt recorded 12 kills and Kristyn Mysker distributed 10 assists for Central Catholic in a 25-22, 25-22 Corn Belt win over Olympia at Stanford.

Olympia's Tifani Gordon had 15 digs while teammate Kelsy Heiser handed out 15 assists.

The Saints improved to 17-9 overall and 10-2 in conference matches while Olympia slipped to 21-6, 8-4.

Normal West triumphs

Allyson Keith dished out 21 assists and Kelsey Detweiler had 15 digs for Normal West in its 25-20, 25-21 nonconference win over Sacred Heart-Griffin at Springfield.

Kelly Jacobs added 14 kills and six service points for the Wildcats (20-11).