High School Girls Volleyball
Lady Railers advance to the Sectional Championship
Team ties record for wins in a season with 33

 

[October 31, 2023] 

The Lady Railers defeated Chatham Glenwood 25-23 and 25-13 on Monday night in the sectional semifinal held at Southeast High School in Springfield.

The Lady Railers advance to the Sectional Championship on Wednesday night at 6:00 p.m. at Southeast High School.

Lincoln will play Normal University High for the championship. University High took down Taylorville 25-15 and 25-17 in the other semifinal Monday night.

Set one

Lincoln was on top of the Titans early in set one, with a 4-1 lead. Peyton Sasse gave Lincoln a 5-3 lead after her second kill of the match ricocheted violently off the gym floor for a point. After a long volley that was won by the Titans, the score was tied 5-5. Rebecca Burge gave the Lady Railers the 6-5 lead with her kill after the perfect backset by Addison Qualters. The young Titans would take a 7-6 lead after a passing error by the Lady Railers defense. But Lincoln settled down quickly and back-to-back kills by Makia Hassebrock and Kloe Froebe put Lincoln back on top, 8-7 the score. After a big block by Alyssa Company, Lincoln extended the lead to 9-7. After a hitting error by Chatham Glenwood, Lincoln was up 10-7. Company’s kill would put the Lady Railers up 11-8. The Titans kept battling until the score made Lincoln fans a bit nervous. With 12-11 flashing on the scoreboard, it would be Sasse coming up with a nice play. She tipped the ball deep into the corner, out of the reach of the Titans, and Lincoln earned a much needed point. After Sasse hammered the ball shortly thereafter, the Lincoln lead was 14-12. The Titans just refused to give up and once again they battled back to within a point, 15-14 the score. After a net violation called on Chatham Glenwood and a monster kill by Froebe, Lincoln held a 17-14 advantage. Following a timeout by the Titans, Lincoln’s Froebe kept the scorekeeper busy by recording a kill and a tip to stretch the lead to 19-14 and force another quick timeout by the Titans coach. Sasse came out of the huddle and marched to the service line, recording an ace and padding the lead just a bit, 20-14 now the score. A sequence of mishaps by Lincoln allowed the Titans to edge closer, 20-17 the score. But with Burge in the middle and getting the perfect set she was able to notch a kill and put Lincoln up 21-17. The Titans would eventually pull to within a point again, 22-21 the score and Lincoln really needed a spark. Company provided just that with not only one kill from the middle, but two quick kills for points. This put Lincoln up 24-21 and the Lincoln fans got on their feet. They would have to hold their applause with the Titans making it a 24-23 ballgame. At this point, Sasse was ready to end things and she did. Her final kill of the set put Lincoln in the win column and the final score was 25-23.

Set two

Lincoln scored the first four points of set two unanswered with Taryn Stoltzenburg at the service line. Sasse and Froebe each had kills during the opening run. Froebe added another kill to make the score 5-1 and Lincoln was already looking better in set two. After Company and Qualters combined on the block, the score increased to 6-1. A kill by Sasse helped Lincoln to an 8-1 lead. Lincoln managed an 11-2 lead after another kill by Sasse. Sasse continued to dominate in set two and after she got on top of the ball from the middle position, she hit it straight down for another kill and a 13-5 Lincoln lead. Lincoln continued to rattle the Titans and the result was a 16-5 lead. The Titans were able to catch Lincoln making some mistakes and that resulted in a 17-10 score that forced Lincoln into a timeout. Whatever was said in the timeout worked well for Lincoln once they resumed play on the court. The team put together some nice offense with Stoltzenburg at the service line. As Stoltzenburg served consistently and even helped herself with an ace, the score went from 18-11 to 24-11 pretty quickly. Stoltzenburg earned the points with a lot of help from her friends. Froebe and Company each earned a couple kills and Sasse also notched one kill more during the run that buried the Titans. Company would record the game-ending kill, a shot that hit the left corner, giving Lincoln a 25-13 win.

Official stats are unavailable at this time but it is worth mentioning that while kills are always a highlight of these matches, it should be noted that the Lincoln defense was a key reason for the team’s win over the Titans. Kloe Froebe, Becca Heitzig and Taryn Stoltzenburg each played terrific defense, getting the ball up in the air to Addison Qualters for the set.

Also with the win, this outstanding group of athletes has tied the 2004 team for most wins in a season with 33.

Congratulations, Lady Railers!!

[Teena Lowery]