DI volleyball commit becomes smash hit at Taylorville thanks to lasting friendships<\/a><\/p>\nNo. 2 seeded\u00a0Springfield High\u00a0(24-9) will face No. 1 Normal U-High in the Southeast Sectional semifinals at Herb Scheffler Gymnasium on Tuesday. The Pioneers\u00a0(32-4) beat Springfield High 25-12, 25-24 in the only\u00a0previous\u00a0meeting this season, back on Sept. 4.\u00a0U-High won the Bloomington Regional title by beating the host Purple Raiders 25-12, 25-10, also on Thursday.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cU-High is definitely going to be a tough one, but hopefully we can rest up this weekend, and then come back and fight just as hard as we did tonight,\u201d SHS senior outside hitter Rachel Becker said.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Instead of donning practice uniforms, Sturm said he was going to let his players take the\u00a0day off on Halloween\u00a0in light of\u00a0the\u00a0Senators\u2019\u00a0third three-set match of the season.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cTomorrow’s Halloween,” Sturm said.\u00a0\u201cTheir minds are not going to be in it.\u00a0They’re\u00a0teenage girls; sometimes they need\u00a0that break \u2014\u00a0mentally and physically \u2014 especially after tonight.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Strong start, strong finish\u00a0<\/p>\n
Springfield High got out to leads of 4-1 and 8-4 in the opening set before Jacksonville mounted a five-point rally, but sophomore outside hitter Lucy Ambrose had a kill, Rachel Becker had two and Ambrose had a pair of aces\u00a0as Springfield High regained its composure and a 14-10 lead. Angel Efe-Nogo\u00a0helped the Senators with\u00a0four kills down the stretch to win the first set\u00a0fairly easily.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
It was the third time this season Springfield High and Jacksonville met. The Senators won\u00a0all three matches, but they got tighter each time.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI would say we just wanted to approach it kind of the same as normal, like come out very strong, because we’ve already played them multiple times before,\u201d said Becker, a senior outside hitter.\u00a0\u201cObviously,\u00a0they’re\u00a0going to know our strategy, so just play like we normally do, but\u00a0still keep\u00a0up the energy, and just play 100% all the time.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Becker, who sports a powerful hitting game, finished with a team-high 16 kills. Ambrose and Efe-Nogo\u00a0finished with eight and six, respectively.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI would say we were a very scrappy team, and so was Jacksonville,\u201d Becker added.\u00a0\u201cIt was such a fun game, just lots of energy happening.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
The deciding third set remained tight throughout until junior right-side hitter Kate Havenar had one of her three kills on the night to\u00a0bread\u00a0the deadlock for good\u00a0as SHS took a 16-15 lead. After the Crimsons called timeout down 20-16, Maci Moore had a kill and a service ace to get the team back within 20-18, but Havenar stole the momentum with her final kill.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
The timing of Havenar\u2019s heroics\u00a0didn\u2019t\u00a0surprise Sturm.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThe thing I can tell you about Kate, she is my x-factor,\u201d Sturm said.\u00a0\u201cShe may only get set three or four times a game, but\u00a0it’s\u00a0always in crucial situations and she always comes through.\u00a0Last game in regionals,\u00a0she got set four times (and) had four kills.\u00a0I mean, she is the x-factor that you\u00a0have to\u00a0have on a team like this.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Havenar provides the Senators with\u00a0a luxury.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt’s nice to have that extra, because we have some good hitters,\u201d Sturm said.\u00a0\u201cObviously,\u00a0we’re\u00a0pushing it outside a lot, but\u00a0you’ve\u00a0got to have those that go, \u2018I’m\u00a0only going to get a few chances, but\u00a0I’m\u00a0going to make the most of them.\u2019\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Addi Maddox led the Senators with 19 assists while Franny Von De Bur had 17. Ambrose had five digs and three aces while Ainsley Lambert also had five digs.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
It was the 11th\u00a0regional title in Springfield High history, but the first since 2021.<\/p>\n
More: <\/strong>Staunton volleyball rebounds from adversity for third straight regional title<\/a><\/p>\nFought to the end\u00a0<\/p>\n
The dean of Central State Eight Conference volleyball coaches, Jacksonville\u2019s Gary\u00a0Hickox\u00a0remained proud of his team\u2019s recent improvement and effort during the postseason. Though the fifth-seeded\u00a0Crimsons finished 16-20, he knows they\u00a0didn\u2019t\u00a0play like a sub-.500 team, especially after an 18-25, 25-20, 25-19 upset over\u00a0No. 3\u00a0Sacred Heart-Griffin on Tuesday\u00a0and giving SHS everything it could handle two nights later.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have gotten better in the last week, which is the perfect time to get better,\u201d Hickox said. \u201cWe had everything\u00a0clicking\u00a0Tuesday night.\u00a0We felt\u00a0real\u00a0good\u00a0coming in\u00a0here tonight,\u00a0just\u00a0kind of got\u00a0on our heels that first set.\u00a0Bounced back\u00a0\u2014\u00a0which\u00a0we were super proud of the girls.\u00a0Bouncing back like that,\u00a0after\u00a0(scoring just 16 points in the first\u00a0set).\u00a0Then point for point there in the third set, it was just nerve-wracking to me.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Jacksonville jumped out to a\u00a07-2 lead in the second set before Sturm called\u00a0timeout,\u00a0and the Crimsons never stopped. After JHS pushed its lead to 20-10, the Senators\u00a0clawed within\u00a022-16 and 23-18 before Hickox used a timeout\u00a0to calm down the Crimsons.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
In the third set,\u00a0kills\u00a0by Jera Wardell, Sophia Withee and Emma Guidish, along with a SHS violation, put Jacksonville up 4-0 as they sensed an upset was possible.\u00a0Springfield High put together a rally to tie it 5-5 and\u00a0the two teams stayed in a tight contest until Becker gave SHS a 20-16 lead. JHS\u00a0got within\u00a023-22, but Ambrose put the win away for the Senators.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThey started swinging a little bit more, actually,\u201d Hickox\u00a0said of\u00a0SHS.\u00a0\u201cThey were\u00a0kind of trying\u00a0to do the soft stuff on us, and we knew that was going to come.\u00a0We’d\u00a0watched enough\u00a0film\u00a0on them, and we knew if they got out of system a little bit, they\u00a0wouldn’t\u00a0try to swing very much.\u00a0<\/p>\n
When they started getting better passes on us and they were able to swing, their big hitters were able to swing, and we got touches, we got blocks,\u00a0but,\u00a0we\u00a0weren’t\u00a0perfect with\u00a0technique\u00a0and the ball was flying out of bounds.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Here are other volleyball regional final results in Class 3A around Springfield:\u00a0<\/p>\n
Mount Zion Regional<\/p>\n
No. 2 Taylorville 25-26, No. 3 Mount Zion 18-24:\u00a0<\/strong>Alayna Vincent topped the Tornadoes with 11 kills to go with eight digs as Taylorville won the regional title.\u00a0Ryan Prince led with 12 assists and\u00a0Molly Smith compiled 10 assists, six digs and three aces. Robyn\u00a0Ward added\u00a0seven kills and two\u00a0blocks,\u00a0and Taylorville (32-5)\u00a0moves on to face No. 1 seed\u00a0Breese Mater Dei at 6 p.m. on Tuesday at the Troy Triad Sectional\u00a0semifinals.<\/p>\nJerseyville Regional<\/p>\n
Top-seeded\u00a0Chatham Glenwood\u00a0<\/strong>swept past No. 4\u00a0Troy Triad<\/strong>\u00a025-9, 25-11 to claim its third straight regional. Glenwood\u00a0(31-6) meets No. 2 Mascoutah in the semifinals of the Troy Triad Sectional at\u00a07 p.m. on Tuesday. …\u00a0At the Lincoln Regional, fourth\u00a0seed\u00a0Lincoln\u00a0<\/strong>lost to No. 1\u00a0Morton<\/strong>\u00a025-12, 25-18 in the title match. Morton plays\u00a0Normal Community West<\/strong>\u00a0in the semifinals of\u00a0the Southeast Sectional at 6 p.m. on Tuesday. Lincoln finished 21-16.<\/p>\nContact Ryan Mahan: 788-1546,\u00a0ryan.mahan@sj-r.com<\/a>, Twitter.com\/RyanMahanSJR. Staff writer Trevor Lawrence contributed to this story.<\/p>\n