By FRED KRONER
fred@sjodaily.com
The St. Joseph-Ogden volleyball team moved closer to another 20-win season after successive 2-0 sweeps at home to start the week.
SJ-O has enjoyed 20-win seasons in volleyball 10 straight years and 17 of the past 18 seasons.
The Spartans (18-2 overall) topped Tri-Valley 25-23, 25-16 on Monday and defeated Unity (21-4) 25-23, 25-14 on Tuesday.
Bree Trimble put up 16 digs and three aces against the Rockets. Rylee Walsh had 15 assists.
Sparking the offense were Katelyn Berry and Emory Ericksen with seven and six kills, respectively.
SJ-O carries a nine-match winning streak into tonight’s match at Pontiac.
Oakwood snapped its three-match losing streak with a 25-18 25-15 win over visiting Hoopeston on Tuesday.
Kerrigan Shafer had seven kills for Oakwood (14-9). McKenzie Doan had seven service aces to go with 13 assists.
Kylie Neuman and Alyssa Romito each landed four kills.
The Comets return to action again tonight at home against Salt Fork (6-15).
Tri-County topped Heritage 25-16,20-25, 25-14 in the championship match of the Little Okaw Valley Conference Southeast Division Tournament on Tuesday in Oblong.
Gracyn Allen (11 digs) and Aliya Holloman (seven digs) led the defensive effort for the Hawks (17-5).
Bri Struck (eight kills), Allen (six kills) and Holloman (six kills) were the offensive leaders.
Girls’ cross-country
The Spartans ran second to Unity in Tuesday’s Illini Prairie Conference meet at Monticello’s Lodge Park.
Unity had a team composite of 31 points. SJ-O had 49 and was followed by Olympia (74) in the eight-school event.
Five Spartans finished among the top 16 runners in a field of 54 competitors.
Cassidy Bagby was fourth, covering the 3-mile course in 19 minutes, 16 seconds.
Other team leaders were Hannah Rajlich (seventh, 19:33), Ally Monk (12th, 19:51) Hanna Eastin (15th, 20:35) and Jillian Plotner (16th, 20:38).
Boys’ cross-country
SJ-O placed sixth in Tuesday’s nine-team Illini Prairie Conference meet at Monticello.
Monticello won the meet with 51 points and was followed by Olympia (57). SJ-O totaled 138 points.
Leading the Spartans was fourth-place finisher Isiah McCune (16:21).
Other top teammates were Brandon Mattsey (23rd, 17:44), Eric Poe (34th, 18:24), Charlie Mabry (38th, 18:42) and Luke Stegall (39th, 8:43).
There were 65 finishers in the varsity race.
In the non-scored open race, two SJ-O runners were among the top 20 in a field of 93.
Gabe Preston was 13th in 19:20. Lukas Hutcherson was 19th in 19:49.
Boys’ golf
Oakwood’s entire team and two seniors from St. Joseph-Ogden qualified for sectionals after their performances in Tuesday’s Class 1A regional at Danville’s Harrison Park.
The Comets placed third among the nine schools that filled out complete teams and captured the final team berth for sectional.
Oakwood was led by Logen Hoshauer with an 81. Ryan Hicks had a 91 and Reed Sperry fired a 94.
Travis Goodner finished at 102 and Seth Halls totaled a 128.
Advancing for SJ-O were Payton Grimsley (83) and Adam Rose (95).
Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley and Schlarman Academy were the top two team finishers.
The qualifiers will play in the Schlarman Sectional on Monday at Danville Country Club.
Boys’ soccer
Dawson Rogers continued his assault on the record books with a first-half hat trick on Tuesday that helped Oakwood/Salt Fork topple Georgetown-Ridge Farm 6-1.
Rogers has a school record 22 goals for the season and holds the career scoring mark with 38 goals.
He also had one assist in the match played in Georgetown.
Brady Tevebaugh, Joe Lashuay and Caleb Lashuay also had goals for Oakwood/SF (6-12 overall, 4-4 in Vermilion Valley Conference matches).
Other assists were by Ethan Hickman and Joe Lashuay.
Goalkeeper Chris Winkler had three saves.
On Monday, St. Thomas More (13-5-4) upended the Comets, 6-2.
Hickman and Caleb Lashuay had the Oakwood/SF goals.
SJ-O (4-10-2) scored a season-high seven goals on Tuesday, knocking off Olympia 7-2.
The Spartans return to action at home today against Arthur-Lovington/Atwood-Hammond (1-13-2).
