Junior High Girls Volleyball
The Honeybears are State Champions!

 

[March 17, 2024] 

The Mount Pulaski Honeybears were unstoppable this weekend at the 8th Grade Class 2A State Tournament in Auburn. The team breezed into the state championship match and then with the most resilient effort you will ever see on the volleyball court, the Honeybears came from behind to win the state championship!

Mount Pulaski put on a dominating display of power on Friday night, defeating Bunker Hill Wolf Ridge 25-11 and 25-9. Olivia Smith led the Honeybears with 13 kills. Ella Martin added 7 kills.

On Saturday morning the Honeybears defeated Peoria Christian 25-15 and 25-19 with Smith tallying 9 kills and Martin coming up with 7 kills.

The state championship match, however, was a different story. It had to be decided in three thrilling sets.

Mount Pulaski dropped the first set to Bloomington Corpus Christi 25-21. The Honeybears then came back to win 27-25 in set two and 25-23 in set three.

Olivia Smith was determined to not let the championship get away from the Honeybears and she led the team with 19 kills.

Ella Martin added 13 kills in the state championship.

Haylee Cowan’s consistency at the service line was also key to the win. Cowan led the team with nine service points in the state championship.

Hannah Cameron, first year coach of the Honeybears and a former Lady Railer volleyball and basketball standout, was so proud of her team after Saturday’s state championship win and she offered this about the nine girls who all saw a lot of time on the court this weekend and played their hearts out.

“This team has a lot of grit,” said Cameron. “They worked really hard this season. I am just so proud of them because they played every single point out. They did not think that they were done at all. That is the mindset we’ve been trying to drill into them and they really applied it tonight.”

With the team falling behind 20-24 in set two and on the verge of elimination from the state title berth, Cameron continued to be encouraging during the timeouts, along with her coaching staff, consisting of former college volleyball players Emma (Anderson) Aper and Lisa (Vaughan) Leonard.

What did she tell her players in order to get them to turn things around and win set two 27-25?

“That we just need to play our game,” said Cameron. “There were some silly mistakes where we were just in our own heads, it felt like. When the girls locked in and did their jobs like they’ve been doing all season, they just excelled. So that was really just what I kept telling them. We do this every single day in practice and every single game, so you know what you’re doing. Have confidence and play hard.”

Playing hard is exactly what these girls did and they never gave up. Their shoulders never dropped and they never changed facial expressions. They just kept their heads up and stayed focused. Something that is not always easy to do in sports. The game can be just as much mental as it is physical and kudos to the Mount Pulaski Honeybears for not getting down, even when the other team was ready to celebrate a state championship.

Let’s take a ride with the Honeybears through the state championship sets.

Set One

The Honeybears took a 2-1 lead in set one after kills by Ella Martin and Olivia Smith, but the Bloomington Corpus Christi Saints stormed back to take a 7-2 lead and this was just the beginning of Mount Pulaski finding themselves in a hole. Despite a trio of big kills from Smith, the Saints maintained an 11-5 lead. After a kill by Martin, the Honeybears were still down 15-7. Mount Pulaski could not make up any ground and trailed 19-8 late in the set. Back-to-back kills by Smith trimmed the lead back to a single digit, but the Honeybears’ errors were costly and the scoreboard soon showed 21-10.

Then the momentum began to shift.

Mount Pulaski put together a phenomenal 11-2 run on the Saints but it was a little too late in the game. With the Honeybears earning a point to make it a 23-21 ballgame, that would be as close as they would get. Bloomington Corpus Christi earned the next two points and the 25-21 win by the Saints was in the books.

Set Two

Smith’s first two kills of the set gave Mount Pulaski a 3-1 lead, but once again that was short-lived. The Saints went up 6-4 and then 8-6 before Martin tied the set 8-8 with a kill in the corner that was just inside the line. Finally a tie! And then to see it slip away. The Honeybears were called for an illegal hit when the score reached 12-9 Saints. Here come the Honeybears again. An ace by Martin tied the set 12-12. Ties of 15-15 and even 19-19 would be reached before things just seemed to go the way of the Saints. A ball landed just in the corner of the Honeybears court without anybody from Mount Pulaski touching it and the lead was 20-19 Saints. After Smith’s hit went into the net and the Saints put down a kill, the lead grew to 22-19. When Martin hit the ball out of bounds, the Honeybears saw themselves in a bad spot, down 23-19. Finally, an error here and an error there rested the score on 24-20.

The Saints were one point away from that first place trophy and they knew it.

But Martin and Smith had other plans. First a kill by Martin, then after two errors by the Saints, Smith put down a kill and it was anybody’s ballgame with the score 24-24. One more time these two teams would tie each other, 25-25, before Smith put down the hammer with two huge kills for the final two points and what an amazing comeback! Smith’s grand finale was a beautiful shot from the middle, off the perfect set by Martin. The Honeybears won set two 27-25, forcing that deciding set.

Set Three

It was evident in set three that eighth grader Olivia Smith was not about to let this one slip away. After Martin’s ace, Smith pounded the ball straight down on the Saints and the Mount Pulaski crowd was fired up with an early 3-0 lead. This set featured some great volleys between the two teams, but Smith was still determined each and every play. Another kill by Smith and the lead was 7-5 for Mount Pulaski. After a tip by Kendra Stewart, the Honeybears were on top 10-5. Martin’s two kills kept adding to the lead and then after an ace by Smith, Mount Pulaski fans had reason to smile with a 14-5 lead. The Saints were far from giving up but Mount Pulaski definitely had the edge with their positive energy that carried over from the bench to the court. After Smith came barreling through the offense for a nice kill from the ten-foot line, the Honeybears were up 17-10. With volleyball being a game of momentum, the Saints caught a nice little run to close the gap from 20-12 to 20-17. Coach Cameron called a timeout and that was just the stop that was needed. The Saints came back to commit an error and then Smith put down a monster kill that left the Bloomington crowd speechless. The Honeybears lead was 22-17 at this point. Another huge kill by Smith and the lead was 23-19. After the Saints used a couple tips to catch Mount Pulaski back on their heels and the Honeybears committed a hitting error, the Saints were within a point, 23-22 the score. Martin’s kill stretched the lead to 24-22 but after a Honeybears passing error, the game was 24-23. Game point was an exciting volley back and forth that featured a diving save by Smith but then when a Saints defender came flying at the net to attempt a tip over on the Honeybears, her momentum carried her into the net and after a brief hesitation the official made the right call. Game point and the state championship belonged to the Honeybears, 25-23 the score.

Immediately after the game, Eva Leonard of Mount Pulaski and Lainey Bellas of Bloomington Corpus Christi were announced as the Outstanding Sportsmanship Award winners.

Eva Leonard’s mom, Lisa, was very proud of her daughter for winning the sportsmanship award. After the epic comeback win, Lisa was busting with energy and wearing a big smile.

“I won a lot of state championships in my life, but I never won my eighth grade year and my daughter just did it for me,” said the “one and done” assistant coach, Lisa. “I got runner-up and by gosh, she was not going to get runner-up today. And Nikki Marten was also on my team and her daughter is also on this team. So we lost the championship our eighth grade year but our daughters won it for us. We are so pumped!”

Leonard has seen and played a lot of volleyball in her lifetime and she loved the determination of these girls.

“With these girls it comes down to not giving up,” continued Leonard. “We’ve practiced the play where we are down six points every single day in practice and they have to work their way out of holes. There have been multiple games this whole season where we were down six points and tonight we came back in that second set. I saw a few of their girls already celebrating. They had game point. They had it, but they hadn’t played us before.” Leonard flashed a smile.

With a couple players missing this week due to Spring Break vacations, the Honeybears coaching staff had to change things around at the last minute heading into the final week of the postseason. Leonard was proud of how the team reacted to the adversity thrown their way.

“We had a challenging week ahead of us, teaching two to three girls a new rotation,” said Leonard. “Every single girl on that floor stepped up tonight. Every single one. We turned a setter from seventh grade into a digger and a passer on the eighth grade team, in one week. We turned another setter into a front row hitter in one week. I am so pumped.”

Long-time Honeybear dad, grandpa, bus driver and all-around super fan, Ron Schaffenacker, said after the unbelievable win that it was the best comeback he had ever seen! And he’s seen generations of volleyball.

Undoubtedly, this state championship will be talked about for years by volleyball fans.

The state champions ended the season with a 20-9 record.

Congratulations, Honeybears!

Final Notes:

30 years ago….

Lisa (Vaughan) Leonard, Nikki (Schaffenacker) Marten, Sallie (Bowles) Tschantz and Renee (Radtke) Martin were all on the 1994 state championship team and each of these girls were in Auburn on Saturday afternoon to watch the current Honeybears win their own state championship. And they had the 1994 blue state championship jackets with pink lettering to prove it!

As Lisa Leonard explained her junior high career:

“We won the 7th grade state championship in 1993. I was in 6th grade setting on the 7th grade team.”

“We won both 7th grade and 8th grade in 1994. I was in 7th grade and Sallie was in 8th grade, but I set for both teams.”

“In 1995, which was my 8th grade year, we lost in the state championship. No Sallie anymore.”

Saving the best for last, in honor of the late Lance Vaughan:

Eva Leonard’s grandpa, Lance Vaughan, passed away on January 17, 2024 and ever since the day he passed, Eva has written “PFG” in marker on her shoes and her wrist.

“Play for grandpa,” she said.

Mount Pulaski stats versus Bunker Hill Wolf Ridge

25-11 and 25-9 win

Olivia Smith 13 kills 9 assists 7 digs 2 aces 1 block

Ella Martin 7 kills 9 assists 4 digs 4 aces 1 block

Elyssa Marten 12 digs 2 aces

Eva Leonard 5 digs

Haylee Cowan 5 digs


Mount Pulaski stats versus Peoria Christian

25-15 and 25-19 win

Olivia Smith 9 kills 7 assists 6 digs 3 aces 1 block

Ella Martin 7 kills 8 assists 4 aces 2 blocks

Elyssa Marten 7 digs

Eva Leonard 6 digs

Haylee Cowan 6 digs

Mount Pulaski stats versus Bloomington Corpus Christi

21-25, 27-25 and 25-23 win

Olivia Smith 19 kills 14 assists 5 digs 2 aces 2 blocks

Ella Martin 13 kills 15 assists 5 digs 3 aces 1 block

Elyssa Marten 22 digs 1 ace

Haylee Cowan 10 digs 2 aces

Kendra Stewart 2 kills 4 digs

Maebri Bender 3 digs 1 block

Kaylee Cowan 2 digs 1 block

Haylee Werts 2 digs 1 assist

Eva Leonard 9 digs

The state championship roster:

Former Lady Railers, Emma (Anderson) Aper, Class of 2011 and Hannah Cameron, Class of 2016, guided the Honeybears to the state championship on Saturday

They flash the No.1 after the exciting win.

Head Coach

Hannah Cameron

Lisa Leonard and her daughter, Eva, pose with the trophy after the team's epic comeback over Bloomington Corpus Christi.
Photo courtesy of Lisa Leonard

Assistant Coaches

Emma Aper
Lisa Leonard

Manager

Cami Killion

Players

Kendra Stewart
Elyssa Marten
Eva Leonard
Haylee Cowan
Haylee Werts
Ella Martin
Kaylee Cowan
Olivia Smith
Maebri Bender

Not Pictured:

Mariah Stone
Andrea Noltensmeier

[Teena Lowery]