Stags win a thriller over Illini
Bluffs on Senior Night
Cross, Briggs and Klokkenga play final game at home
[October 17, 2025]
It was a Senior Night to remember for Celia Cross, Ellie
Klokkenga and Alayna Briggs. This Stags trio has been playing
together since third grade so emotions were running high before the
start of their last game ever in Hartsburg on Thursday night. That’s
right. From here on out this postseason, the Stags play on the road.
No more home games.
To add to the excitement, the Stags were hosting Illini Bluffs, who
came into the contest with a 23-1 overall record. The Stags entered
with a 23-4 record.
Both teams were undefeated in the Tomahawk Conference but the Stags
changed all that after three intense sets of volleyball.
Hartsburg-Emden came out on top, giving fans a lot to cheer about
and parents a valid reason to be nervous.
The final Varsity scores: 25-19, 25-27 and 25-19.
What an amazing Senior Night!
After the win, the three sweaty seniors gathered to talk about it.
“Honestly, I think the way that it was so close made the whole
series better because even though we got down we really had to push
at the end and I think we did that and it just made us stronger,”
said Cross.
“I agree with Celia and also just the fact that this is my last game
at Hartsburg-Emden,” said Klokkenga. “It’s just so insane to me and
it was a factor in why I wanted to win this game so badly. Even
though it was a close game, it was the grit that I needed, the fire
under my butt, to win this game.”
“Our younger players like Lydia Doolin, the way that she stepped up
in the end, we were all amazed,” said Briggs. “The way that she (Doolin)
was blocking. The way that Ava (Eeten) was digging. Allie (Grelck)
is in her first year being the libero. The way everyone was playing
was amazing. The way Cambelle (Hopkins) really stepped up too. It
was amazing.”
Another thing that was amazing that the girls talked about prior to
the game was how sophomore Lydia Doolin gave them each hand written
notes that brought them to tears. After the emotional win, the trio
addressed Doolin’s thoughtfulness.
“Lydia is the sweetest, most bubbly person on our team,” said
Briggs. “We are all very competitive and Lydia comes in everyday
with a smile, giggling all the time. She’s just an amazing person to
be around. And she wrote us these sweet notes about how we are good
leaders. I was sitting at the cake table crying. She is so sweet and
so supportive about everything.”
“She is so sweet,” said Cross. “We were all three sitting there
getting teary-eyed. The notes were all so sweet and personalized.”
“Lydia, being my other right side, I’ve just grown so close to her
this season I feel like,” said Klokkenga. “There were a bunch of
inside jokes that she put in our personalized notes and it was just
so heartfelt. You could tell that she meant every single word that
she wrote.”
“I am so relieved when Lydia comes in the game because she’s always
so calm and collected all the time,” added Cross. “She always has a
positive mindset about everything.”
“We love Lydia!” said the trio in unison.
And the Stags love a win on their home court.
Set one
The Stags took the court with the first serve and a 2-0 lead was a
good start for the home team. Following back-to-back aces by the
Tigers, the Stags found themselves quickly down 2-5. Lydia Doolin’s
first kill of the night, followed by a Stags block closed the gap to
4-5. A kill by Emma Eeten off the quick set from Celia Cross earned
another Stags point. But even after a kill by Ellie Klokkenga the
Stags still trailed 6-7. Cambelle Hopkins had a huge kill to keep
the Stags on pace with the Tigers but then a big kill by Emerson
Eeten stretched the lead back to two points for Illini Bluffs. It
was time for another kill from Klokkenga and that one had the “Wow!”
Factor. Klokkenga followed that up with an ace and the result was a
9-9 score.
Both teams were really on their “A” game early. Hopkins put a
beatdown on the next volleyball she came in contact with and this
kept the game tied 10-10. Then it was time for an Emerson Eeten kill
to put the Tigers back on top. The Tigers actually took another
two-point lead before the Stags forced their way back into a 14-14
tie. Following back-to-back kills by Hopkins, the Stags climbed on
top 16-15. Klokkenga gave the Stags an 18-15 edge with another kill.
A couple errors by the Tigers allowed the Stags to go up 20-17.
After a call where the Tigers back row hitter crossed over the
ten-foot line, the Stags lead grew to 23-18. One more powerful kill
by Briggs highlighted the end of set one, which was awarded to the
Stags by a final score of 25-19.
Set two
This time it was the Tigers finding their way to a 2-0 lead. Doolin
got the first good kill of the set again and Briggs also put one
away for the Stags following a really good volley between the two
teams. The Stags did fall behind 2-5 but an ace by Allie Grelck in
between two impressive kills by Briggs knotted the score 5-5. Eeten
and Briggs combined for a terrific block and that earned the Stags
the first lead of the set, 6-5 the score. Emerson Eeten was a
handful though, and her two kills helped the Tigers jump on top.
After the Stags fell behind 6-10, Coach Jennifer Hayes called a
timeout.
Illini Bluffs continued to pound the ball. Four kills later, and
other factors too, had the Stags in a 10-17 hole. Even after two
kills by Briggs, the Stags were down 13-18. The Tigers kept the
Stags in a four to five point deficit until Hopkins flew into the
front row and managed to smack two kills in a row. Hopkins made it a
20-23 game and this time it was Illini Bluffs on the timeout. After
a successful block by the Tigers, game point was reached with the
score 20-24.
[to top of second column] |
Alayna Briggs, Ellie Klokkenga and Celia Cross were honored on
Senior Night before the Stags volleyball game against Illini Bluffs.
Photo by Teena Lowery
Hold on. Hopkins is going to lead the comeback with
a kill. Illini Bluffs was called for another ten-foot violation.
Then Klokkenga recorded an amazing kill for another point. Finally,
Briggs put a block on the Tigers and it was all tied up, 24-24. The
packed gym was going nuts. The Tigers jumped back on top on a kill
by Emerson Eeten, only to give a point away the next possession on a
lift call. The Tigers stole the lead again on another kill and they
would claim the victory after Briggs’ attempt at a kill hit the net.
Illini Bluffs steals set two 27-25.
Set three
The Stags started set three with a serve in the net and Coach Hayes
was ready to twirl around like the tornado in the “Wizard of Oz.”
But hey, after an ace by Grelck later on the Stags were on top 3-2.
Klokkenga’s kill down the line was perfection and the Stags remained
in front 4-3. Hopkins had a really nice kill that was a
crowd-pleaser and that kept the Stags up 5-4. Chloe Eeten of the
Tigers had a sweet backwards tip that kept the game tied 6-6. From
here the Tigers went up by three points and the Stags had to work
hard to get back to an 11-11 ballgame. Eeten and Briggs combined for
a terrific block that tied it up. This set was going to keep getting
knotted up.
Seriously, it was 14-14, 17-17 and then 18-18. Briggs hit the corner
with a kill that broke the tie for good and sent the Stags towards a
victory. Doolin and Eeten then followed with a block to make the
score 20-18. But in the seconds before that block, the Stags were in
a volley with the Tigers and it was one of those volleys with some
impressive saves. However, no one was more impressive than Klokkenga,
who really pulled off the impossible, diving to keep her team alive.
It was definitely a highlight of the game. From there the Stags just
piled on the points. In fact, Doolin added another kill that made
everybody in the gym just go “Wow!” She hit it into the block and it
ricocheted out for a Stags point. After the Tigers committed a
hitting error on the next play, the Stags were in a pretty good
position leading 23-18.
After a player from lllini Bluffs went down with an ankle injury and
the game was put on pause for a few minutes, Briggs came back with
one more kill to put her team at game point. The Stags got the
winning point on a miscommunication between the opposing players. As
the ball dropped in between Tigers, the Stags threw up their hands
in victory. The final score in set three was 25-19.
Both the Stags and the Tigers were impressive in the three sets.
And speaking of sets, Celia Cross was phenomenal with 42 assists.
She adds these to her career assists record that she just set
Tuesday night.
Her hitters were outstanding, too.
Alayna Briggs led the Stags with 16 kills.
Emma Eeten followed with 13 kills.
Cambelle Hopkins had 12 kills.
Ellie Klokkenga had 8 kills.
And Lydia Doolin had 3 kills.
The Stags improved to 24-4.
Emerson Eeten led the Tigers with 16 kills.
Addie Woertz added 13 kills for the Tigers.
Illini Bluffs falls to 23-2.
The Tigers did win the JV game 25-20, 17-25 and 15-11.
The Stags JV team is 6-6.
Hartsburg-Emden will play in the Morgan Lee Buerkett Tournament
hosted by St. Thomas More in Champaign on Saturday. Games will also
be played at Parkland.
The Stags have one more Tomahawk Conference game against Greenview
on Monday night.
Varsity stats
Points
Cambelle Hopkins 12
Allie Grelck 9
Celia Cross 9
Ava Eeten 7
Ellie Klokkenga 5
Alayna Briggs 3
Kills
Alayna Briggs 16
Emma Eeten 13
Cambelle Hopkins 12
Ellie Klokkenga 8
Lydia Doolin 3
Blocks
Emma Eeten 5
Alayna Briggs 3
Ellie Klokkenga 1
Assists
Celia Cross 42
Digs
Alayna Briggs 12
Celia Cross 9
Cambelle Hopkins 7
Ava Eeten 5
Allie Grelck 3
JV stats
Points
Layla Parrish 12
Kylee Eads 10
Dani Dueringer 9
Sophia Bivens 6
Ava Eeten 4
Lydia Doolin 4
Kills
Lydia Doolin 12
Kylee Eads 6
Ava Eeten 3
Layla Parrish 1
Blocks
Ava Eeten 1
Assists
Ava Eeten 11
Lydia Doolin 5
Digs
Layla Parrish 13
Sophia Bivens 10
Dani Dueringer 8
Kylee Eads 2
Lydia Doolin 1
[Teena Lowery] |
