College of DuPage fought past a rough opening before finding its groove in defeating Joliet Junior College 3-2 in the NJCAA Region 4 Division 3 title match Wednesday night at PEC Arena.
 
The Chaps, who earned a 23-25, 22-25, 25-16, 25-14, 15-2 victory, advance to the Great Lakes District title match where they play Region 12 champion Delta College (16-13) in University Park, Mich., on Sunday.
 
First serve is 11 a.m. Central (noon Eastern) for the right to advance to the NJCAA Championship on Nov. 14-16 in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
 
Freshman Skylar Huffman led the Chaps in kills with 16 and sophomore Josephine Becker followed with 14. Earning double figures in kills were Alexandra Hornbogen (11) and Christina Savaglio (10).
 
COD totaled 58 kills on the night and hit .148 (58/31/182). Setter Ava Diaz led in assists with 45 of COD's 55. Francesca Brandonisio led in service aces with four, Huffman three and Rory Geroux and Camila Fundora, with two each.
 
"Things were not going our way early and we had to work through it,'' head coach Tolis Koskinaris said. "Christina (Savaglio) has put in the time to smooth out her game and she stepped up. Skylar (Huffman) got hot and got us going, too. We learned a lot tonight by working one step at a time to gain some momentum. Once we got going, we were on our way.''
 
The Chaps' defense was strong in bouncing back in the final three sets. They totaled 102 digs with Brandonisio's 28 leading. Huffman added 19, with Diaz (14), Geroux (13), and Fundora (13) contributing.
 
On the block, Hornbogen led with two solos and one assist. Becker had one solo and one assist and Savaglio added a solo block.
 
The Chaps (20-14 overall) entered play defeating Joliet in all three regular-season meetings with just one match reaching four sets.
 
This night was different as the Wolves were determined in taking momentum early and keeping it. A first set lead at 21-20 COD disappeared quickly as JJC broke away down the stretch.
 
Nothing changed in the second as JJC grabbed control after the set was tied at 9-9. The Wolves scored six straight points and led 15-9 before COD answered with a run of its own, outscoring JJC 11-2 and led 20-17. Joliet climbed back to tie twice, then forged ahead with three straight points after the final tie at 22-22, capping an 8-2 run.
 
It would take COD playing in just its fifth-set match of the season and just its second since opening weekend in August to earn the title.
 
Down 5-4 in the fourth, COD struck back on a 9-1 run and won the set going away. In the fourth, COD grabbed an early 2-1 lead and never trailed again to even the match at 2-2.
 
In the fifth, Geroux opened at serve and helped COD to a 5-0 lead. After a JJC side-out, COD returned the favor and with Brandonisio serving, scored six straight points and the Chaps led 12-1 before closing out the night.