Junior High Girls Volleyball
Perfection - Wolverines win State Championship!

 

[March 10, 2024] 

The West Lincoln Broadwell Wolverines won the 2024 7th Grade Class 1A State Championship in volleyball on Saturday afternoon at Clinton Junior High School and finished their season with a perfect 27-0 record.

The Wolverines dominated the championship game, defeating Ashland A-C Central 25-6 and 25-14.

Sage Gilbert led the Wolverines with 9 kills in the championship match.

Olivia Woodhall added 5 kills.

Bianca Rohlfs led the team with 10 assists.

Kallie Courtwright had 9 assists and 8 aces for WLB.

Head coach Kaylee Lowery, who is in her third year at WLB, was very excited for her team following the win on Saturday.

“I am so proud of all of them,” said Lowery. “I know our record shows that it was perfect but it was a lot of work throughout the season and I’ve been waiting a long time to watch them play like that last game. So it was perfect timing. If there is any time to play that well, it is the state championship. They went out and played exactly like I knew they could all season.”

Play well, they did!

State Championship

Set one

Bianca Rohlfs set the tone early in set one with an opening ace and she wasn’t about to stop at just one point. Rohlfs served the team to an 8-0 lead, with Olivia Woodhall adding three kills early on to fire up the Wolverines fans. Grace Bivin’s kill hit the corner perfectly to put WLB up 9-1. With Bivin adding another kill and Sage Gilbert warming up her swing, WLB was on top 11-5, with A-C Central getting their only points on the Wolverines errors. Once Kallie Courtwright stepped to the service line, the Knights were doomed. Courtwright immediately served an ace and she did not stop at one either. With Courtwright’s dangerous serve, the score escalated to 20-5 quickly. Five of Courtwright’s serves were aces. During this spectacular run, Gilbert hammered out three more kills. Gilbert can leap in the air and pound the volleyball straight down, a deadly combination. WLB allowed the Knights one more point before getting back down to business. Woodhall tallied one more kill while Gilbert added a kill and then two aces to finish off the Knights. Set one was all WLB, 25-6 the score.

Set two

WLB spotted the Knights a couple points to start set two. After an ace by Rohlfs, the score was 2-2. Bivin’s kill kept the set close, 3-3. Gilbert’s kill did the same, 4-4 the score. Ella Roemer’s tip broke the 5-5 tie and then a kill by Gilbert stretched the WLB lead to 7-5. With Courtwright back at the service line, the Wolverines took a 9-5 lead. The Knights did mount a small comeback and tie the game 9-9. But with one big swing by Gilbert, the Wolverines were back on top 10-9. After a kill by Woodhall, WLB held a 12-10 lead. With Rohlfs serving, she made sure the lead stayed intact. Her efforts, along with some outstanding defensive plays by the Wolverines, kept WLB on top 14-11. With Bivin rising to the occasion, she made the score 16-12 with one powerful swing. Nobody in the building was going to return Bivin’s hit from the middle. With the perfect set coming from Courtwright, Bivin just annihilated the volleyball, leaving the Knights’ back row helpless. With Courtwright sneaking a tip over on the Knights, the lead increased to 17-12.

Following an error by the Knights and a kill by Bivin, the lead was 19-12. Woodhall’s serving here was powerfully consistent and she made the score 21-12 following two more aces. Jinxed her. The next serve by Woodhall went long and out of bounds to give the point to A-C Central. Errors by each team put the score at 22-14 and it was time for the Wolverines to capture a state title. With the Knights giving the Wolverines a point, the “Undefeated” chants started in the WLB student section, led by Ella Roemer’s brother, Owen. Owen is a senior at LCHS and he led the Lady Railers student section at the state tournament just a week ago.

And finally, as if scripted ahead of time, the final two WLB points came courtesy of a kill by Gilbert and an ace by Courtwright.

WLB takes set two and the state championship by a final score of 25-14.

Truly a perfect ending to a perfect season!

The Wolverines also notched two earlier victories in the state tournament.

In the semifinal game on Saturday, the Wolverines defeated LaSalle Trinity Catholic 25-12 and 25-16.

Grace Bivin led the Wolverines with 10 kills against LaSalle Trinity Catholic.

Olivia Woodhall had 9 kills and Sage Gilbert had 8 kills.

Paisley Holmes had 8 digs in the semifinals while Kallie Courtwright tallied 19 assists.

WLB began tournament play on Friday night by defeating Rantoul St. Malachy 25-23 and 25-14 to advance to the final four.

WLB joins an elite list of undefeated state champions not only in IESA State Volleyball history but also Lincoln history.

It was just a week ago that the Lincoln Lady Railer basketball team earned their state championship trophy with a 38-0 record.

The Lincoln girls are definitely having a good year!

Congratulations, Wolverines!

The state champions are:

Bianca Rohlfs
Ella Roemer
Piper Craig
Kallie Courtwright
Olivia Woodhall
Madi Meinershagen
Ellie Hake
Grace Bivin
Jory Peacock
Brooklyn Clark
Taylor Short
Gracie Crowell
Charleigh Pritchard
Sage Gilbert
Paisley Holmes

Head Coach Kaylee Lowery
Assistant Coach Angela Craig

WLB stats versus LaSalle Trinity Catholic

Grace Bivin 10 kills
Sage Gilbert 8 kills 2 aces 7 digs
Olivia Woodhall 9 kills 2 aces 4 digs
Paisley Holmes 8 digs
Kallie Courtwright 19 assists

WLB stats versus A-C Central

Bianca Rohlfs 10 assists 2 aces 3 digs
Kallie Courtwright 9 assists 8 aces
Sage Gilbert 9 kills 3 aces 2 digs
Olivia Woodhall 5 kills 2 aces
Grace Bivin 4 kills

[Teena Lowery]