High School Volleyball
Lady Railers impressive in win over Sacred Heart-Griffin

 

[August 23, 2023] 

The Lady Railers 2023 season opener versus the Sacred Heart- Griffin Cyclones on Tuesday night at Roy S. Anderson was impressive to say the least. To describe this team in one word on opening night in the Central State Eight: FEARLESS.

Lincoln came out swinging, led by junior Peyton Sasse with 11 kills, and their offense never let up as they took down the Cyclones in two sets, 25-12 and 25-8 the scores.

Varsity

Set one

With the Cyclones serving to start set one, the Lady Railers first play of the game was drawn up perfectly. Kloe Froebe’s pass from the back row glided right into the hands of the setter, Addy Qualters, and her set flawlessly floated towards Peyton Sasse for the kill. Sasse pounded the ball at the diving Cyclones libero and it quickly deflected from her arms and into the stands. The crowd roared as the Lady Railers put the first point on the board.

Lincoln would run the lead up to 4-0 after another kill from Sasse. Leads of 6-1 and 8-2 would soon follow and again, these points were thanks to the sweet swing of Sasse. After a tip by Alyssa Company, the Lady Railers were up 10-2 and the Cyclones coach had seen enough.

She called a timeout and was obviously displeased with her team’s opening night performance. The timeout did give the Cyclones a little boost. They fought back to scores of 12-6 and 13-9. Kloe Froebe’s kill settled down the Cyclones at this point and in fact, the lead went from 14-9 to 19-9 pretty quick for Lincoln.

Sasse’s kill from the middle would allow the Lady Railers to go up 20-10 and Lincoln was not about to let the Cyclones get any closer. Sasse was quick to connect for a kill from the outside on the next play and Lincoln was ready to run away with set one.

The Cyclones did not do themselves any favors down the stretch. First, they watched a ball just drop to the floor. Then with Company on the block, two Cyclones hit the floor trying to return the ball and another defender was left aimlessly just swinging in the air trying to get a piece of the ball.

All efforts failed and Lincoln was down to game point. A Cyclones player hit the ball out of bounds on the last effort and Lincoln was able to capture set one by a final score of 25-12.

Set Two

The Cyclones started off on the wrong feet in set two. No one could handle the opening serve from Froebe, despite multiple bodies diving to the floor.

Next it was Sasse’s turn to see how many Cyclones could hit the floor. No one could even begin to catch up to Sasse’s monster kill down the line.

Then, Rebecca Burge put one down and the Lincoln lead was 3-0. Finally, Lily Holmes connected and sent one sailing to the backcourt for a kill. Nice assist from Becca Heitzig on that one. Lincoln held a 4-0 lead over the Cyclones.

Sasse was playing sensational against the Cyclones and for her next kill she really pounded the ball straight down with force from the middle, making the score 6-2. She’s a really nice girl, but the way she hits the ball, she’s pretty scary. With Sasse getting a hand in the next two plays, the score rose to 8-2.

A kill by Froebe from the 10-foot line put Lincoln in a great position, leading 10-2. Company then rose for the occasion, earning the next point for Lincoln. This girl, when she gets in the air, on top of that volleyball, she can crush it. She did just that, sending the ball down the line and making the score 11-3. Her adrenaline evidently was pumping at a rapid pace yet as she annihilated the ball to make the score 14-4. Even the student section yelled, “BOOM!”

Honestly, Froebe got a nasty kill herself on the next play and Lincoln was in the midst of a run. This little run ended with the score 18-4 and the Cyclones were just ready to get out of town at this point.

Froebe’s next kill made the score 20-6. Froebe and Sasse would each earn one more kill before sending the Cyclones on their way. The game ended nonchalantly with the Cyclones hitting the ball into the net and allowing Lincoln to walk away with set two by a final score of 25-8.

Peyton Sasse led the team with 11 kills.

Kloe Froebe added 6 kills and Alyssa Company had 4 kills.

Addy Qualters had 21 assists.

Becca Heitzig added 10 digs.

Lincoln head coach Kaylee Lowery was ecstatic after the season-opening win.

"It was amazing,” said Lowery. “I was nervous that the girls were going to come out nervous but they were ready to come out and make a statement. I told them right before the game to come out and make a statement, set a tone for the season and that’s absolutely what they did. They came out and beat Sacred Heart-Griffin and that was a great start to the season. Conference game, home game, we got lots of jitters out and it was just an amazing start to the season. And then to look forward to the progress that we can make looking forward from tonight to what we can do come October-November. It is exciting.”

Also exciting was the crowd. The bleachers were filled on the side opposite the player’s benches. From the lower level to the upper level, fans filled the stands and cheered loudly for their Lady Railers. In fact, Tuesday night’s season opener looked to be the largest crowd for a regular season volleyball game ever. A lot of fans were pleasantly surprised at the large crowd.

Even Coach Lowery was surprised to learn a crowd this large for a regular season game was new to the LCHS girls volleyball program.

“I was not aware of that,” said Lowery. “That’s amazing because I was taking it in and I was like, ‘Oh, this is what a Lincoln volleyball game is’ and well, that’s amazing and the girls deserve that.”

Lowery was also pumped up about something else new.

“I don’t know if you noticed,” she said excitedly, “but we had all new volleyball equipment that was delivered right before the game because the girls deserve that. And then to have this crowd and get the win, the girls deserved that, too. It was a great night.”

Lincoln will travel to Champaign Centennial on Thursday night.

Freshman @ 5:00 p.m.
Junior Varsity @ 6:00 p.m.
Varsity @ 7:00 p.m.

Varsity stats versus SHG

Qualters 21 assists 3 digs
Company 4 kills 3 blocks 1 dig
Heitzig 10 digs 2 assists
Froebe 6 kills 6 digs
Holmes 2 kills
Sasse 11 kills 5 digs
Burge 1 kill 1 block 1 dig
Stoltzenburg 6 digs

Junior Varsity

The Lady Railers JV team also picked up a win over SHG. Lincoln won in two sets, 25-11 and 25-21 the scores.

Players with outstanding performances here included Makia Hassebrock, Jayden Behrends, Mia Clark, Piper Whiteman, Kendal Long, Jada Bree, Sydney Ramlow, Trinidee Harper and Lauren Tedrick.

Freshman

The Lady Railers Freshman team lost in three sets, 15-12, 12-15 and 13-15 the scores.

[Teena Lowery]