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The
senior core of this excellent Lady Railer volleyball team accounted
for 11 service points in Game 1 and six more in Game 2, including
six aces. Add to that the tireless setting skills of Gleason and the
passing, blocking and hitting skills of Cook and White, and no one
has any doubt what these seniors mean to this team. Last night, just
like many other nights this season, these fine senior women led
their team to a dominating 15-0, 15-6 victory over the Southeast
Spartans in CS8 conference play.
As
with all great performances, an encore is desired and one is
assured. The seniors will return home for their encore performance
in the regional final on Saturday, Oct. 27. They will face the
winner of the Rantoul-Charleston Regional semifinal contest. Railer
fans would love to see a repeat of last night’s match.
Coach
Charissa Howe pulled out her "secret" serving weapon last
night to help win Game 1. That weapon was none other than Tina Cook.
Tina, who is generally known for her lethal left-handed kills and
her blocking ability, usually rotates out when it comes her turn to
serve. But not on Senior Night. Much to the surprise and delight of
many Railer fans, Tina walked to the service line with volleyball in
hand. When she was finished, she had knocked down four points for
the Lady Railers. Three of them were aces. The Railers held a 7-0
lead and never let up. Fellow senior Kelli Gleason added three more
service points along the way. Senior Darcy White finished off the
Spartans, serving the last four points, one of which was an ace. The
Lady Railer shutout was complete.
But
the senior trio was not alone, as usual. Teammates Michelle and Kari
McFadden did some powerful hitting to finish points off for the
team. Christina Xamis, Samantha Conrady and Kari McFadden provided
the other service points as the Railers dominated all aspects of
Game 1.
In
Game 2 of the match, the Railers were having too much fun to get
another shutout, but the end result was the still the same. After
the intermission, the Spartans came out firing, determined not to be
embarrassed a second time. The Railers found themselves down 1-4 as
the match began. Then came Tina Cook. Tina, once again, stayed in
the lineup and did her newfound service magic. Her first serve was
an ace, and the two that followed needed only the hand of Kari
McFadden to bring the Railers into a tie with Southeast. It was no
contest after that. Southeast managed to get the next point and led
5-4, but that would be about it. The Lady Railers scored the next
nine unanswered points to all but finish the match.
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The
most dominating force in that 9-point run was the beautifully placed
serving of Missy Aper. With Missy serving and her team doing the
rest at the net, the Railers moved from a 4-5 deficit to a
commanding 11-5 lead. Kari McFadden added two more service points
after that, and then the seniors finished matters. A kill by Darcy
White brought the Spartan scoring to an end. Kelli Gleason got
service point 14 with an ace and Darcy White got the 15th
point with some blocking help from Missy Aper. Match over.
The
Lady Railer JV team and the freshman team also won their matches
last night. The JV team won in a three-game match by scores of 15-7,
7-15 and 15-3. The freshman team finished off Southeast in two
games, 15-4, 15-6.
All
in all it was a dominating performance by the Lady Railers on Senior
Night. But a perfect Senior Night will not suffice for these seniors
or this team. The post-match talk I heard was mostly about their
final conference match on Thursday against Springfield and the state
playoffs. The road to Redbird Arena begins on this same floor in a
little over a week.
If
this team continues to play as a team and plays as it did last
night, I’m confident it can beat anyone it may meet. I see some
travels in their future.
To
be successful in Lincoln, Charleston, East Peoria and Normal, the
Lady Railers will need to fine-tune their game skills and their will
to win. Without either of those, no one wins in the postseason.
Every point will have to be played as if it is match point. No
opponent can be overlooked. None can be overrated. Fans must be
present all along the way to spur them on. Mix in a good dose of
laughter from time to time, and the Lady Railers should be set.
Will
the Lady Railers will themselves back to Redbird Arena? I already
have my tickets secured. Stay tuned! GO, RAILERS!
[Rick Hobler]
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Results
IVC
def. Lincoln College 30-12, 29-31, 15-12
Morton
Community def. Lincoln College 33-31, 30-27
Lincoln College stats
Janine
Buettner — nine points, 15 kills, five blocks
Amy
Cox — six points, three aces, nine kills, five blocks
Erica
Miller — seven kills, three digs
Molly
Owens — 13 kills
LC
season record — 13-14
Coach
Tippett:
"Mentally
we never got going. We were competitive but couldn’t get over the
hump. We had a lot of unforced errors and missed several
serves."
[Bill
Martinie,
Lincoln College sports information director]
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