High School Girls Volleyball
Lady Railers punch their ticket to State
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[November 05, 2023]
The
Lady Railers won the Class 3A Taylorville Super-Sectional on Friday
night by defeating Mascoutah 25-11 and 25-18.
Lincoln is now headed to the Class 3A Volleyball State Finals at
CEFCU Arena (Redbird Arena) in Normal on Friday, November 10, 2023
and on Saturday, November 11, 2023.
Lincoln had little to no trouble handling the 34-4 Mascoutah Indians
in the Super-Sectional final Friday night. The Lady Railers entered
the contest with an identical record to the Indians, but it was
pretty clear early on that Lincoln’s game was just out of the
southern Illinois school’s league. Lincoln has an insane amount of
talent on this year’s team and the Lady Railers were quick to set
the tone against the Indians.
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2023/Nov/06/images/ads/current/danieleeten_sda_FFARM_2023.png)
Set one
Kloe Froebe was not about to be denied a trip to the state
tournament her senior year and she was quick to get the Lady Railers
in the scoring column with her tip that earned the first point of
the game. Froebe then started the serving for Lincoln with an ace,
as the student section behind her chanted, “Here we go, Lincoln,
here we go!” Before long the Lady Railers boasted a 4-0 lead and
that was just the start they needed. Peyton Sasse’s first kill of
the set kept Lincoln on top, 5-2 the score. Another kill by Sasse
and the lead was 6-2 with the Indians coach calling a timeout. The
break in action failed to disrupt Lincoln and Sasse earned another
kill on the return trip to the court. This time Sasse hit the corner
nicely for a 7-2 lead. Sasse was by no means a one-woman show but
she was swinging often and with consistency. Sasse then used a tip
which was a perfect move at the time and the lead was 8-3. Following
an Indians error in the net, Sasse and Rebecca Burge combined for
the block and Lincoln kept adding points. Another sweet yet “in your
face” kill by Sasse and the lead was 11-3. Now the Indians would
regroup and come back a bit, trailing 12-6. But after the quickset
to Burge resulted in her hitting the corner for a perfect kill, the
score was 13-6 and another timeout was called by Mascoutah. Alyssa
Company gets credit for the next kill, but kudos to Becca Heitzig
for keeping the ball alive for Lincoln on her outstanding dig. After
Makia Hassebrock hit the corner with her kill, the lead was 15-7 and
Lincoln was definitely getting a solid effort from everyone on the
court. The Lady Railers were also aided by a string of errors
committed by the Indians and took advantage to lead 18-9. Of course
another kill by Sasse did not hurt at this point and with her swing
the score was 19-10. After the Indians hit the ball out to make the
score 20-11, the first set was all but over. Mascoutah was called
for a touch and it was all downhill from there. An error and then a
block by Burge and Sasse just continued to shut them down. Sometimes
the errors can be a domino effect and the Indians were definitely
feeling it. Burge ended set one by perfectly placing a tip out of
reach of the defenders and as it hit the court, Lincoln claimed the
25-11 victory.
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2023/Nov/06/images/ads/current/beasonag_sda_FFARM_2023.png)
Set two
Froebe’s kill put Lincoln up 2-1 quickly in set two. This time
around the Indians took advantage of a couple errors by Lincoln
early and they would claim leads of 6-4 and even 8-6 before the Lady
Railers got down to business. After an ace by Heitzig and a block by
Company, the set was tied 8-8 and Lincoln would begin to take over.
With Heitzig serving, the team came back. Froebe and Company each
notched kills and with Lincoln back on top 13-9, Mascoutah called a
timeout. The return to the court featured a really long volley
between the two teams and Froebe ended it with a monster kill down
the line. Froebe had another kill from the middle that left the
Indians defenseless and left Lincoln with a 15-10 lead. Sasse set
the score at 17-12 after a sweet cross-court kill just landed inside
the line. Mascoutah just could not get out of their own heads and
into the game and the score escalated to 19-13. Froebe made the
score 20-14 on another kill and again the Indians called a timeout.
Mascoutah had a couple really good hitters that did earn kills near
the end, but they just could not battle consistently against the
Lincoln front row defense. Company and Sasse earned the final two
kills for Lincoln to make the score 23-18. Mascoutah ended the set
on a sour note for themselves. First, they were called for the touch
and secondly, they just simply hit the ball out of bounds on game
point. Sadly, for the Indians it was not even a hard hit ball. The
ball just floated out of bounds by the Lady Railers bench and Peyton
Sasse waited to watch it hit the ground before the celebration
began. Lincoln claimed the victory in set two by a final score of
25-18.
There was plenty of celebrating on the court following the win with
Railer Nation eventually making their way down from the bleachers
above to join the players. Family and friends posed for lots of
photos with the players and Coach Kaylee Lowery and her team fielded
lots of questions from the media. The scene was something that was a
long time coming for the volleyball program, as the last trip to the
state tournament for the Lady Railers volleyball team was in 2000.
Coach Kaylee Lowery is familiar with the trip to State, having been
to Redbird Arena as a player and an assistant coach for the
Hartsburg-Emden Stags. Lowery and her team have had Redbird Arena on
their radar since the start of the season.
“There is truly nothing like going to State,” said Lowery. “The
excitement and the experience is amazing. I have experienced State
both as a player and as an assistant, but now I get to experience it
as a head coach and I couldn’t be more excited to experience it with
these girls and this team. Their drive, character, and the love they
have for volleyball and winning is what makes my job worth doing. It
is going to be such a fun and busy week. The community has shown
such support and the girls appreciate it so much. We knew from the
beginning of the season what our goal was. I sat them down at our
first official practice and stated the exact goal. They were all on
board and bought into everything we’ve done in preparation to get
here. We knew that U-High was going to be a huge game come
postseason. There was a bit of a turning point after that regular
season loss (to U-High) and we knew that we had to really dig deep
and put in some extra work to prepare and win that rematch. Since
the post season has started, we haven’t been given much time to
prepare for games. This time we get four days to prepare, but so
does the other team. Redbird Arena can be intimidating, and lucky
for us some of them have been there and played, so they will be more
comfortable going into Friday.”
Lowery is alluding to the members of the volleyball team who played
on the Lady Railers 2nd place basketball team at Redbird Arena back
in March. This time around the ball is different but the winning
mentality is there and it’s Lowery’s job to keep the team on the
right track. With a 35-4 record so far, the team definitely looks to
add on a couple more wins.
“I think the biggest thing we are going to focus on is what we do on
our side of the net,” added Lowery. “We’ve got the right tools to
reach our goal. We need to stay focused and ready to put in more
work because we aren’t finished yet. We hope to see a huge crowd at
ISU on Friday. Go Railers!”
Lowery has a talented group of student-athletes who thrive on
hard-work and dedication to their sport. They love the thrill of
competition and they work together very well as a team. They also
enjoy hoisting trophies and championship plaques and posing promptly
for team pictures afterwards, with Lynn Paulus barely needing to
direct them anymore. They’ve become pros at lining up.
Following the game Friday night, seniors Kloe Froebe and Taryn
Stoltzenburg were all smiles as another trip to Redbird Arena was in
their future. The two friends just made history on Doug Collins
Court back in March playing basketball for the Lady Railers.
“It’s just such a surreal feeling,” began Froebe, who was second on
the team this season with 302 kills. “On the way here I was looking
at pictures of past volleyball games from when we were younger and I
was thinking let’s just go out and do it for them. This is what they
were looking forward to, working hard for and let’s just go do it
for them. Let’s leave it all on the court.”
[to top of second column] |
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Froebe mentioned winning a state volleyball title
as a seventh grader at West Lincoln Broadwell, but then her eighth
grade year saw the season cut short due to Covid. The WLB team was
actually supposed to play Hartsburg-Emden in the sectional
tournament that year.
Taryn Stoltzenburg, who has tallied 267 digs this season, will be
going to State in volleyball for the first time in her career.
Stoltzenburg played volleyball at Lincoln Junior High School.
“It means a lot,” said Stoltzenburg, of this opportunity. “At the
junior high we never really had a lot of success in volleyball and I
knew that high school would be different. Just playing with this
team I knew we had a lot of potential.”
Becca Heitzig, when asked if she thought she’d be in this position
on this night, answered, “I did not. But you know, God gave us
another chance to play together and I am just going to embrace it.
It’s just amazing because we get to play together again. I tell God
everyday thank you for letting us play together because I just love
my teammates.”
Heitzig, hails from the WLB volleyball program and she leads the
Lady Railers with 392 digs this season. Heitzig said her and her
teammates push each other and hold each other to high standards.
Heitzig was eager to celebrate quickly with her team Friday night
but she was also eager to get home and rest. Heitzig had to be at
Detweiller Park in Peoria on Saturday morning to run in the 2023
IHSA Class 2A State XC Championships. (Spoiler alert: SHE WON!)
Alyssa Company, a senior who leads the team with 62 blocks, was
overcome with emotion following the Super-Sectional win. For
Company, who just started playing volleyball in eighth grade at
Chester East-Lincoln, this will be her first trip to State.
“I don’t think this moment feels real yet,” Company said. “I started
crying, realizing that this is actually happening. I think it’ll hit
more as I realize we gotta train for State this week. And it’ll hit
even more when we actually show up to Redbird Arena. I am
super-stoked. I am just taking it all for the moment. I am sure I
won’t go to bed tonight.”
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2023/Nov/06/images/ads/current/farmersgrain_sda_FFARM_2023.png)
When asked about what makes this 2023 team special,
Company said, “I think it’s just the way we get along. We all
understand each other. We communicate well. We have fun in practice
and we all know how to pick somebody up when they are down.”
Company previously did competitive dancing but admitted that she
watched her mom, Candace, coach volleyball ever since coming out of
the womb.
“She told me that I have the height for it and after I stopped
dancing competitively I decided that I should give it a try and I
fell in love with it,” said Company. The “newby” compared to her
teammates, is third on the team with 206 kills so far this season.
Addy Qualters was a volleyball teammate of Taryn Stoltzenburg’s at
Lincoln Junior High and this will also be her first time at State.
Qualters has played club volleyball since the age of 12 and her hard
work has really paid off. On Sunday, she was named to the Illinois
Volleyball Coaches Association 2023 3A Girls All-State second team
as a setter. Qualters has 927 assists this season and she has
eclipsed 1,500 assists in her two-year stint as a setter.
Qualters has been a huge part of the Lady Railers success this
season and while the upcoming trip to State has not set in yet, she
said, “It means everything to us. We have put in so many hours in
practice to come this far. Coach Kaylee pushes us to be the best we
can be, and I believe we would not be here without her.
Qualters has really been impressive running the floor for the Lady
Railers this season and she acknowledged “being a setter can
definitely be challenging but I have strong connections with my
teammates which makes my job easier.”
As far as the upcoming weekend, Qualters said, “I anticipate a lot
of great feelings next weekend, seeing all this come together for
the goal we set in the beginning of the season.”
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2023/Nov/06/images/ads/current/remington_sda_FFARM_2023.png)
When asked what makes this team special, Qualters
said, “At the end of the day we work hard, we support each other and
we all have the same goal. The heart of the team comes from the
support and trust between our teammates and it has been building for
many years. We all stand on that together.”
Peyton Sasse, a junior on the team who leads Lincoln hitters with
370 kills, comes from Chester East-Lincoln and she has been a
dominant driving force for the Lady Railers on the court all season.
Sasse was just named to the Illinois Volleyball Coaches Association
2023 3A Girls All-State first team as an outside hitter.
“I am just so happy and thankful for the team I’m a part of,” said
Sasse. “I couldn’t have asked for a better season. It has been
nothing but an exciting journey. Our team has a different kind of
trust that I don’t think a lot of teams have. I’m super excited
heading into this week. I’ve never had any State experience so this
is all new for me. But I wouldn’t want to be heading into this week
with a different team. I’m with plenty of girls who know what it’s
like to be in this situation. I’m feeling very confident in our team
and our ability. I just keep reminding myself that if we made it
this far, we can go all the way. We just need to trust each other
and stay focused, then everything else should just fall into place.”
Junior Rebecca Burge, who has 41 blocks so far this season, has been
to State once before with her volleyball team at West Lincoln
Broadwell and she called that experience amazing. In just four more
sleeps she will be on the court at Redbird Arena, seeing one goal
achieved and setting her sights on another.
“It honestly just doesn’t feel real,” said Burge. “Some of the girls
got together to hang out and we just kept saying, “We’re going to
State, like actually going to State.” We’ve all been working for
this since July when we started summer ball and it was pretty much
our main goal to make it to Redbird Arena. We’re all super ready to
get into the gym and prepare for what’s to come and win.”
Makia Hassebrock played junior high volleyball at Chester
East-Lincoln and went to state in volleyball her eighth grade year.
The Panthers got 4th place that year. Hassebrock has found success
coming in off the bench and she has surprised a lot of teams with
her swing.
“I am very excited for the state tournament and can’t wait to put in
the work,” said Hassebrock. “Our 2023 Railers volleyball team is
very special because all of us are hardworking and very focused on
what we want to achieve. This upcoming weekend we need to have a
good mindset and focus on the things we have been doing in practice.
We also need to stay focused on what our goal has been all season,
winning State.”
Sounds like the Lady Railers are ready to get to work and take that
road to Redbird Arena on Friday.
The real question is: Is Redbird Arena ready for Lincoln fans to
take over again?!
Lincoln will play Chicago St. Ignatius College Prep on Friday,
November 10, 2023 at 4:00 p.m. at Redbird Arena in Normal.
Wheaton St. Francis will play Morton following the Lady Railers
match.
The winners will meet on Saturday at 5:30 p.m. for the state
championship.
Stats versus Mascoutah
Sasse 10 kills 7 digs 1 block
Froebe 7 kills 11 digs
Company 5 kills 2 assists 1 block
Qualters 26 assists 5 digs
Heitzig 12 digs
Burge 4 kills 2 blocks 1 dig
Stoltzenburg 7 digs
Hassebrock 2 kills
[Teena Lowery] |