By FRED KRONER
fred@sjodaily.com
St. Joseph-Ogden’s volleyball team needed three sets on Thursday to dispatch Bloomington Central Catholic, 25-15, 18-25, 25-18 in the Saints’ gymnasium.
Eve Owens had 12 digs for the Spartans. Teammate Bree Trimble had 10 digs and three service aces.
Chipping in with six kills apiece were Katelyn Berry, Kennedi Burnett and Emory Ericksen. Rylee Walsh had 12 assists and Emily Bigger handed out nine assists.
SJ-O (16-2), ranked second among News-Gazette area teams, returns to action tonight at home against Tri-Valley. The Spartans are working on a seven-match winning streak.
Oakwood (13-9) suffered a three-set Vermilion Valley Conference loss to Milford on Thursday, 25-18, 14-25, 25-21.
McKenzie Doan had team-high totals of 18 assists and seven kills. Kerrigan Shafer had six kills and Paiton Frerichs had five kills.
Madison Doan served two aces.
For the season, McKenzie Doan has a team-best 299 assists.
The Comets will try to snap a three-match losing streak on Tuesday at home against Hoopeston Area.
Heritage (17-4) opened play in the LOVC Southeast Division tournament with a 2-0 sweep of Hutsonville, 25-16, 25-21, at Bethany.
Gracyn Allen had matching totals for kills and digs (nine). Teammate Olivia Sorensen had 19 assists and eight digs.
The tournament continues on Tuesday with the finals set for Thursday.
Football
Prairie Central (5-1) doused SJ-O’s homecoming hopes with a 34-14 win on Friday.
The Spartans (4-2) have lost two games in a row and play their next two games on the road, starting on Friday at Olympia (1-5).
SJ-O needs one more win to become playoff-eligible and two more victories to assure itself of a postseason appearance.
Villa Grove/Heritage (2-4) fell behind unbeaten Bismarck-Henning/Rossville-Alvin 25-0 at home on Friday and suffered a 38-14 setback.
The Blue Devils scored twice in the second half on passes from Evan Wilson, covering 34 and 30 yards.
VG/H returns to action on Friday at Oblong (3-3).
Oakwood (2-4) fell short at Georgetown-Ridge Farm (3-3), dropping a narrow 21-19 decision on Friday. The loss snapped a two-game winning streak.
Colby Smiley scored two of the touchdowns for the Comets and Nick Grubb had one TD. Smiley rushed for a team-high 118 yards.
His final TD came in the final minute, but the Comets’ two-point conversion was stopped and the Buffaloes held on to win.
Oakwood plays at B-H/R-A (6-0) on Friday in the Blue Devils’ homecoming game.
Co-ed soccer
The Oakwood/Salt Fork team (5-11) was shutout in back-to-back matches, dropping a 10-0 decision on Thursday at home to Bismarck-Henning (12-2-1) and then falling on Saturday to Judah Christian (7-7-2), 2-0, in Champaign.
The team will conclude regular-season play this week, starting with a home match tonight against St. Thomas More (12-5-4).
The St. Joseph-Ogden team suffered a 4-0 loss to visiting Bloomington Central Catholic on Thursday.
SJ-O is 3-10-2 ahead of a Tuesday home match against Olympia.
Boys’ cross-country
Cameron Helka placed sixth individually (17 minutes, 19 seconds) for Oakwood/Salt Fork in Saturday’s Oakwood Invitational at Kickapoo State Park.
Clinton took team honors.
Girls’ cross-country
Oakwood/Salt Fork’s Grace Davis ran sixth (22:23) in Saturday’s Oakwood Invitational at Kickapoo State Park.
St. Thomas More captured team honors.
Boys’ golf
Oakwood had two top-10 placers and finished fifth in the seven-school Vermilion Valley Conference boys’ meet on Thursday at Danville’s Harrison Park.
Meet champion Schlarman Academy had a composite score of 346. Oakwood’s team tally was 441.
The Comets’ Reed Sperry was ninth individually with a 94. Teammate Logen Hoshauer tied for 10th with a 96.
