High School Girls Volleyball
Lady Railers headed to the State Championship today!

 

[November 11, 2023] 

It’s been a goal since day one of practice when Lincoln’s new head volleyball coach, Kaylee Lowery, stepped onto Neil Alexander Court. Fast forward to this day in history, November 11, 2023 and the Lady Railers will be playing for a state championship in volleyball!

The Lady Railers are playing for the Class 3A Volleyball State Championship today at CEFCU Arena in Normal. Lincoln (36-4) will play Wheaton St. Francis (33-8) today at 5:30 p.m.

The Lady Railers defeated the Chicago St. Ignatius Wolfpack on Friday afternoon in three intense sets that lasted one hour and twenty-two minutes. Lincoln dropped set one 25-27 but fought back to win the final two sets 25-20 and 25-20.

The “Wolfpack of the 217” took down the Wolfpack of the 312 by hustling and playing gritty defense, without any Vegas flair, Mike Tyson run-ins or late-night face tattoos. Well, Kloe Froebe turned 18 this week so maybe a tattoo could be in her future.

To explain further, just a week ago the quartet of Froebe, Stoltzenburg, Bowman and Heitzig dressed up to celebrate Halloween a little late as characters from the movie “The Hangover.” As Doug (Kloe), Phil, (Taryn), Stu (Jenna) and Alan (Becca), these girls nailed it. Becca Heitzig with the baby was epic!

And on Friday night the entire Lady Railers volleyball team had CEFCU Arena shaking like a Vegas gambling machine hitting the jackpot.

Set one

The Wolfpack of St. Ignatius started the game off by serving and after Kloe Froebe started the scoring with a kill, Lincoln was up 1-0. Skylar Greene of St. Ignatius would be a handful for Lincoln and her first two kills were impressive. It would take a kill from Peyton Sasse to tie the set at 2-2. Sasse kept Lincoln even 4-4 with another kill. A kill by Rebecca Burge gave Lincoln a 7-6 advantage but it was pretty evident the battle was on. With Becca Heitzig serving, and Froebe coming up clean with a kill, the Lady Railers would jump in front 11-6. Back-to-back kills from Froebe and Alyssa Company kept Lincoln in the lead, 13-9 the score. After Makia Hassebrock and Sasse put down kills, Lincoln seemed to be in the driver’s seat with the score 20-13. In fact, Lincoln commanded a 23-16 lead after Froebe drove the ball hard into Doug Collins Court and it looked like the set would be over quickly.

The Wolfpack called a timeout and whatever the coach said in the timeout, it worked. The Wolfpack’s 6-0 run caused Lowery to call two quick timeouts, as the score showed Lincoln clinging to a 23-22 lead.

Lincoln went up 24-22 on a monster kill by Froebe, but after a kill by Sydeny DeProfio and a Lincoln hitting error, the teams were knotted 24-24. The pressure was mounting.

St. Ignatius took a 25-24 lead on a kill by Marin Thaxton. Froebe wasn’t having it. She tied the game 25-25 on another kill.

Unfortunately for Lincoln, Maggie Rankin and Thaxton finished the set with kills and St. Ignatius won by a final score of 27-25.

Set two

Lincoln hit the court for set two, calmly ready to complete the task at hand: win!

After falling behind 2-0, Lincoln was finally able to tie the set 3-3. Errors were the name of the game early for Lincoln, but with Burge and Froebe notching kills, they kept the score tied 6-6. Froebe came up clutch again to tie the set 7-7. This time her kill was so powerful the look in her eyes seemed to say, “Not in my house!” Froebe dropped 45 points at CEFCU Arena back in March at the basketball state finals (a state record) and that gives her the right to claim stake in the building. Froebe’s will to win was taking over and another kill tied the set 8-8. After Froebe and Company combined on the block, Lincoln was up 10-8. Kills by Company and Sasse and an error by the Wolfpack allowed Lincoln to go up 14-10.

St. Ignatius crawled back to within 16-14 and Lowery called a timeout. Sasse had the first kill after that timeout and it was evident Lincoln was going to have to rely on the arms of Froebe and Sasse to pull this win out. With the score 17-14 it could still go either way. But after Froebe got the team to a 20-15 lead on a kill, she was locked in.

The Wolfpack had other plans, and after it was 20-18, Lowery called another timeout. Lowery probably used more timeouts in the first two sets than she did all regular season. Slight exaggeration, but still worth noting. Froebe’s kill that made the score 21-18 also came with a statement. This time her body language was interpreted loud and clear as, “Not on my court!” Froebe is a fierce competitor and she wants to win at all costs. Losing is not in her vocabulary. Her teammates do not like losing either. Lincoln was able to slam the door shut after kills by Sasse and Company sent the team to victory, 25-20 the final score.

Set three

The announcer said, “This is the first time we are going to a third set today.” Lincoln fans, you are about to get your money’s worth. Lincoln took a 4-1 lead, three of the first four points coming off Sasse’s kills. The three most important things to know about Sasse are: she loves chocolate, she loves Dr. Pepper and she loves killing the ball. Sasse’s kill kept Lincoln on top 7-6.

Set three was every bit as exciting as the first two sets, with a lot of flip-flopping in the score, but fast-forwarding through the highlights you will see Froebe’s kill kept the Lady Railers in front 10-9. Company really has the desire to win State and she said it from day one, so to back it up she used two kills to keep her team in front 12-11. Lincoln managed a one to two point lead until the Wolfpack tied the set at 17-17.

Time to feed Froebe. She was looking hungry. Addison Qualters delivered the set and Froebe crushed it for the 18-17 lead. No time for looking back now. A couple Wolfpack errors and a service ace by Taryn Stoltzenburg and Lincoln had the 21-18 advantage.

After a timeout by St. Ignatius, Froebe very wisely placed a tip over the net and the Lincoln fans were about to lose their minds. The score was 22-18 and Lincoln needed to slam the door shut here. Down the stretch, Sasse, Company and Froebe did just that. One final kill by Froebe and Lincoln wins set three 25-20.

What a great way to end the day!

While most of the focus is always on the kill, the defense won the game for Lincoln.

Becca Heitzig played out of her mind, on another level, and was simply spectacular as she had 26 digs to lead the team. She added 13 service points and 4 assists to her resume on the day.

Taryn Stoltzenburg had 15 digs and 14 service points on the big stage.

Kloe Froebe had 14 digs and 14 service points but her biggest stat was 16 kills.

Addy Qualters, an absolutely amazing setter and the floor general, had 35 assists, 13 digs and 11 service points.

Alyssa Company contributed 12 service points, 6 kills and 3 blocks.

Peyton Sasse put in a good day’s work with 16 kills, 10 service points, 6 digs and 3 blocks.

Rebecca Burge had 2 kills and 2 blocks.

Makia Hassebrock had 2 kills and 1 block.

[Teena Lowery]