Hawks, Tribe drop IPC matches
FAIRBURY — Prairie Central head coach Kirsten Smith knew Thursday's Illini Prairie Conference volleyball matchup with Illinois Valley Central was going to be a big challenge. The Grey Ghosts featured three hitters standing at least six feet tall and the team is quite athletic.
The Hawks have also been dealing with Homecoming Week activities, which only added to the challenge.
IVC left town with a 25-18, 25-12 victory. The Grey Ghosts found a groove midway through the first set and set the tone once they were in control.
“IVC is a very tough team and we knew that going into tonight’s match,” Smith said. “The girls made their own goals and I think a lot of them not only achieved some of their goals but surpassed some.
“I am proud of how we played!”
It was difficult to attack a wall in the first place, but then the Hawks had to deal with a defense that dug up a lot of balls.
Kerigan Fehr led Prairie Central with 3 kills. Gracie Edelman and Callie Eisenmann each had 3 assists.
Defensively, Gyllian Davies rejected 2 attacks and Fehr dug up 8 attacks.
Prairie Central dropped the sophomore match 25-16, 25-19 and the freshman match 25-21, 25-20.
Pontiac-SJO
ST. JOSEPH — Alix Robinson and Keara Smith were effective at the net for Pontiac but the Indians were unable to overcome the power of St. Joseph-Ogden as the host Spartans netted a 25-16, 25-14 win in Illini Prairie Conference play.
Robinson and Smith each had 6 kills for the Tribe (4-12, 0-2). Bailey Masching added 2 kills and Cadence helms had 1 kill. Smith also had 7 assists.
Masching and Robinson each had 1 block while Paige Collins had 10 digs. Smith also had 5 digs on defense.
St. Joseph-Ogden outlasted the Indians in the sophomore match by rallying to win 24-26, 25-22, 15-9. PTHS lost the freshman match 25-15, 25-22.
Flanagan-Cornell-EPG
FLANAGAN — El Paso-Gridley was able to fend off host Flanagan-Cornell 25-23, 25-22 in a Heart of Illinois Conference match Thursday.
The win moves the Titans to 18-2 on the season and 5-1 in HOIC play. Callie Whitcomb drove home 9 kills for EPG and Emma Whitcomb collected 15 assists. Reese Deckard served 6 aces.
Kyra Carr made 1 block and Isabel Vargas had 11 digs.
Kortney Harms had 8 kills on offense and 13 digs on defense for the Falcons (11-13, 2-4). Raegan Montello chalked up 5 assists and served 2 aces. Kalynne Kindermann also had 2 aces and scored 4 digs on defense.
EPG won the sophomore match 25-15, 25-10. The two sides split the freshman match with each winning a 25-23 set.
Lexington-Ridgeview
LEXINGTON — Lexington and Ridgeview co-op in football, track and softball, but they face each other n volleyball. On Thursday, it was a complete sweep as the Minutemen claimed three matches on the night in a Heart of Illinois Conference match at The Fort.
Avery Poppe had 7 kills and Makayla Ziegler contributed 5 kills to lead the Lexington (8-5, 3-2) net attack. Mary Doll had 10 assists and Emma Bennett added 8 assists. Poppe led the servers with 13 points, including a pair of aces. Doll also had 2 aces.
Ziegler had a block and a block assists while Sammy Yates an Eva McCue each had 1 block on defense. Bennett dug up 8 attacks.
Celbee Johnson and Brinley Stevens each had 5 kills for the Mustangs. Stevens also made 2 blocks on defense.
Lexington won the sophomore match 26-24, 25-11 and the freshman match 27-25.
This article originally appeared on Pontiac Daily Leader: Volleyball Prairie Central Pontiac Lexington Flanagan-Cornell
