This is not the first time the Prairieview-Ogden eighth-grade volleyball team is competing in the 8-1A IESA State Tournament.
And with the program PVO has built, it probably won’t be the last, either.
“At Prairieview we have a winning tradition,” head coach Tracey Mathis said. “Making it to the State finals is always a goal. Vic White was the coach before me, and he has created this winning tradition.”
Mathis experienced some of that success as a player and as an assistant coach under White.
Under White’s direction from 2012 to 2016, the eighth-grade placed fourth at State in 2014 and the seventh-grade made it to the Elite Eight before getting beat. The seventh-grade team of 2015 carried on the tradition, placing second at IESA while the eighth-grade squad placed fourth.
As those seventh-grade student-athletes moved up and competed in eighth-grade, they placed third in State. Since taking over for White, who became PVO’s Superintendent, Mathis has taken the Mustangs to the Elite Eight as the head coach, but her teams have lost the first match each time.
Mathis hopes that a first will occur in tonight’s game at Pana against a 20-1 Pana Junior High team and will result in a different outcome.
“As a team I told the girls, we go all the time, but bringing home the trophy is really what we want to accomplish,” Mathis said.
As seventh-graders, the current eighth-grade team lost in the second round of IESA Regional play.
Mathis said the girls have matured, and that has made all the difference this season.
“They have just improved so much as a team,” she said. “They are very coachable, they are very hard working.
“When I ask them to do something at practice, they trust me. Even if they can’t do it right away, they try. As a coach, that’s all you can ask for; that they try to do what you are trying to accomplish.”
In what may be described as a bump in the season, two starters from PVO were absent from the lineup in the Effingham Tournament.
“Our lineup wasn’t what it usually is, and we did not play to our potential in that tournament,” Mathis said. “I think the team was disappointed in how that went for us.
“But it was after that tournament that we came back with two big wins against Armstrong-Potomac and Hoopeston. I think it ended up being a good thing for us.”
With additional girls on the floor during that tournament, the team grew stronger through communication.
The Mustangs fought back from the losses to defeated Armstrong-Potomac in conference play. Armstrong-Potomac was the team which eliminated PVO in Regionals last year.
Still in conference play, the Mustangs traveled to Hoopeston, a larger school, where they won in two games to finish out the regular season.
As the No. 1 seed in Regional play, Mathis felt like the Mustangs had a target on their backs, having previously defeated all the teams within their Regional bracket.
“The challenge for us was that we had beaten every team we faced before in the regular season,” Mathis said. “When you’ve beaten a team once, you don’t want to underestimate them.”
Mathis wasn’t going to underestimate their Sectional competition, so she scouted Decatur Lady of Lourdes prior to playing them.
“I came back to my school, and I told my administrator: I think if we play this team 10 times, they will probably beat us nine,” she said “But there’s always that one time.”
The Mustangs came back after a first-set loss to defeat Decatur Lady of Lourdes, what the coach called the “best team” they had played all season.
Mathis said the girls on her team have played together since fifth grade. She said the community atmosphere of getting to know one another in that way, and the support of parents, has been incredible.
But, at this time, the Mustangs have their sights set on what will be last as well as what might be a first.
“It might be our last practice, but it might be the first time they are successful at learning a skill,” Mathis said. “It might be our last game, but hopefully it’s our first-ever win at State with this group of girls. Maybe it’s their first time getting a medal. Just turning lasts into firsts has to be our focus right now. “
