Four times the fun: Plains, Williamsville win to set up another volleyball showdown
RIVERTON — In a Sangamo Conference gymnasium, the two league representatives each won to set up one last volleyball meeting for the Class 2A Riverton Sectional championship on Wednesday.
In the first semifinal on Monday, Williamsville topped St. Joseph-Ogden 25-19, 25-17 behind 15 kills from Britni Walters. In the second match in the Hawk Center, Pleasant Plains trounced Arthur-Lovington-Atwood-Hammond 25-12, 25-12 and got 13 kills from Peyton Bergschneider.
Wednesday's 6 p.m. contest will be the fourth meeting between Williamsville (25-11) and Pleasant Plains (34-4). Plains, last year's Class 2A state tournament runner-up, is 2-1 against the Bullets this season. Plains secured a win of 25-23, 25-18 on Sept. 24 in the Sangamon County Tournament then again 25-18, 25-17 in the Saints Fall Classic at Illinois Wesleyan in Bloomington.
Williamsville's victory came in Sangamo Conference play on Sept. 27 at home 25-23, 14-25, 25-20.
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"One more for a sectional championship," Pleasant Plains coach Denise Dufour said. "I'm proud it's two Sangamo teams going for it: I think that speaks to our conference and just how strong our conference really is. It will be a battle."
The Sangamo is guaranteed a representative in the Class 2A Maroa-Forsyth Supersectional on Friday at 6 p.m. The Riverton winner will face either Chillicothe Illinois Valley Central (34-3-1) or Minonk Fieldcrest (29-4).
Williamsville sophomore comes out swinging
Walters, a sophomore, helped set the tone for Williamsville after St. Joe-Ogden quickly grabbed a 5-1 lead. Following a timeout called by Williamsville coach Courtney Beard, Walters put down a kill to start a 7-1 rally as the Bullets jumped on top 8-6 in the first set.
"I think we were ready to play and to show up and once she gave us that talk, we were ready to play," Walters said of the Bullets' response out of the timeout.
With the score in the opening set tied 18-18, Walters finished off the Spartans in the set with four kills and a service ace.
"We passed really well out of the serve-receive tonight and Britni Walters was on another level tonight which was amazing," Beard said. "We didn't get as much production from Brooklyn Holdener) as we usually do so I thought it was awesome Britni could pick up that slack."
Walters had 11 of her 15 kills in that first set. The Bullets got a more well-rounded effort on the front line in the second.
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"I thought we spread the ball a lot in the second set," Beard said. "We went to Britni when we needed to, when we needed to get kills and she did what she needed to do in the first set. I thought it was better for our hitters to spread the ball around more and get them going too because we'll definitely need it Wednesday."
Norah Boggs added six kills whole Holdener had three.
"We took advantage of where (St. Joe-Ogden was) setting their block," Beard said. "Their coach (Abby McDonald) at one point wasn't really sure where to set the block, so I think that kind of played to our advantage as far as we have hitters who can move the ball around a lot."
Williamsville is looking for its first sectional title since 2015. Meanwhile, St. Joe-Ogden finished second in the state in 2017 and third in 2019.
The Bullets' Hope Keenan had 12 digs while Addasyn Achas had six. Riley Holliday led Williamsville with 23 assists.
Pleasant Plains stands tall
Pleasant Plains has the luxury of length on its side. The Cardinals' starting unit had 5-foot-8 Zoe Hiltabrand, 5-9 Sienna Hadley, Bergschneider, Sydney McAfee and Jaycee Smith — all 5-10 — and the 6-1 Lauren Buxton.
"We've got a bunch of big hitters," Bergschneider said. "We're always pretty dependable on each other and it definitely makes a difference on other teams' defenses when they don't know where the ball is going. When we've got so many options for hitters, it makes a lot more difficult to set that block up and get your defense set."
It's a tall task to stop the Cardinals' front line from putting down a slam for the kill.
"That's our game plan a lot of times is just to run our lanes, run our plays, hold a block here when we need to but make sure we're still going where we need to go to make sure that's accountable," Dufour said. "For us having so many options in so many areas we can move the ball around to, what a blessing to have that."
Besides Bergschneider's 13 kills, Buxton had nine, Hadley finished with five and McAfee netted three. Plains' front-line defense was also tough. Buxton recorded three blocks while Bergschneider and Hadley each had two.
"I'm very proud of how they played tonight," Dufour said. "They played as a team and I've been preaching that all season to them that we have to do this as a team. It's not one person. There might be somebody who shines here or there but we have to continue growing as a team. When that happens, results like that is what we see."
Contact Ryan Mahan: 788-1546, ryan.mahan@sj-r.com, Twitter.com/RyanMahanSJR.
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Sectional semifinal roundup
CLASS 3A
AT LINCOLN
NORMAL U-HIGH 25-25, LINCOLN 23-16: In the first semifinal in Roy S. Anderson Gymnasium, Lincoln got eight kills from Peyton Sasse and six from Kloe Froebe but the Railsplitters ended their season. Still, it was the first regional title for Lincoln since 2014.
Jenna Bowman had both service aces for Lincoln (30-7) while Addy Qualters finished with 17 assists and seven digs. Libero Becca Heitzig led the Railers with 13 digs.
Lincoln was looking to win its first sectional title since 2002.
NORMAL WEST 25-25, ROCHESTER 12-20: In the second semifinal on Monday, Rochester got eight kills and a block from Emma Dixon.
Ella Teeter and Charlotte Beatty each had eight assists apiece for the Rockets (25-11) while Kaylen Reed finished with seven digs. Zoey Tackett and Teeter each had six digs.
This was Rochester's third consecutive postseason with a sectional appearance.
AT CENTRALIA
TAYLORVILLE 25-25, MARION 19-21: Sam Logue and Sophie Mizeur combined for 28 digs and helped Taylorville advance in its march for a possible second straight sectional crown.
Elle Richards led the Tornadoes (28-9-1) with six kills while Mazie Fleming posted five and Olivia Woodward finished with three.
Sophie Mizeur, who led Taylorville with 19 assists, also had 13 digs. Logue led the Tornadoes in digs with 15.
Taylorville will face Mascoutah in the sectional title match on Wednesday at 6 p.m. The Tornadoes won the second sectional championship in school history a season ago. The first supersectional appearance for Taylorville came in 2016.
2021 title chase: Cousins lead Pleasant Plains, Lutheran to IHSA volleyball finals
CLASS 1A
AT WHITE HALL
LUTHERAN 25-25, HARDIN CALHOUN 23-23: In the first semifinal, Makenna Cox led the Crusaders with six kills and added 10 digs and three aces to lead the Crusaders into the sectional title game against Mendon Unity.
Kaleigh Bergschneider posted a team-best 13 digs for Lutheran while teammate Anna Schleyhan finished with 12. Caleina Herman led the Crusaders (35-3) with 11 assists.
The Mustangs (33-4-1) got to the sectional championship by beating Raymond Lincolnwood 25-19, 25-19. The Lancers' season ended with a 34-4 record.
This article originally appeared on State Journal-Register: IHSA volleyball: Williamsville, Plains lead Springfield-area teams
