By FRED KRONER
fred@mahometnews.com
St. Joseph-Ogden’s volleyball team achieved closure on Saturday afternoon.
Closure for the season.
Closure for the career of nine seniors.
Closure for a match that could have gotten away from the Spartans in the same manner that played out in the season-opener.
Back in August, SJ-O won the first set against eventual Class 2A state champion Decatur St. Teresa, before suffering losses in the next two sets.
On Saturday, in front of a cheering throng of fans at Illinois State University’s Redbird Arena, SJ-O won the first set in the match that would determine third place in Class 2A.
Rockford Lutheran won the second set and had the Spartans facing a late-match deficit in the tiebreaking set.
This time, there was not a replay, no sadness or déjà vu.
SJ-O reeled off four of the final five points – two on kills by Kennedi Burnett – to clinch the third-place trophy thanks to a 25-11, 20-25, 25-23 triumph.
“They fought the entire season,” head coach Abby McDonald said. “The way they carried themselves and represented the community to end with a win is extremely fitting.”
In the third set, the Spartans scored the first three points and went on to more than double the score at 15-7 before Rockford Lutheran rallied to gain leads at 19-18, 20-19 and 22-21.
“The key,” McDonald said, “is the experience of being in those moments prior to today. We used every opportunity to learn from mistakes so we would be prepared when it counted.”
Burnett led the Spartans with 14 kills – matching her performance from Friday’s semifinal round – and Emily Bigger distributed 29 assists.
Rylee Stahl had 14 digs and, according to McDonald, “was a difference-maker.”
“She hardly let anything drop, tips or aggressive swings,” McDonald added.
SJ-O ended the year with a 37-5 mark and a school-record total for wins in a season. The team ended the year by playing four consecutive three-set matches.
“The season, in general, will be difficult to match up to in the future,” McDonald said. “But we learned in 2016 (after placing second at state) what a difference it makes to know dreams can come true if you believe in yourselves.”
Katelyn Berry landed six kills in the season-finale. Teammates with four kills apiece were Lacey Kaiser, Stephanie Trame and Payton Vallee.
Other defensive stalwarts were Kenly Taylor with nine digs, and Burnett and Kaiser with seven apiece.
Nine SJ-O seniors closed their prep volleyball careers on Saturday: Lindsey Aden, Jenna Albrecht, Katelyn Berry, Emily Bigger, Lacey Kaiser, Rylee Stahl, Kenly Taylor, Stephanie Trame and Anna Wentzloff.
In a sport where only six players are on the court at one time, a large number of players from one class can potentially cause friction within a program.
“It’s a challenge to have so much talent in one class,” McDonald said, “but they are not just great volleyball players, but better people.
“They were all in and know it takes everyone to be successful. To buy in is a testament to who they are. They are kind kids.”
Following Friday’s three-set emotional loss, McDonald tried to alleviate pressure on her squad for the season-ending third-place match.
“I told them that trophies collect dust, but the memories on this journey are ones they will never forget,” the coach said.
In the first set of the third-place match, there were five ties before SJ-O snapped a 5-5 deadlock. With Stahl at the service line, the Spartans doubled the score, building a 10-5 advantage and not trailing again in the set.
Rockford Lutheran scored the first five points of the second set and the Spartans never caught up.
McDonald expected the competitiveness of the match.
“We knew after watching them on Friday, they never quit and they battle like we do,” McDonald said. “I thought it was a comparable matchup.”
The Spartans wound up in the third-place match after falling to Breese Mater Dei in the semifinals on Friday, 25-20, 23-25, 25-22.
The decisive third set was tied at 18-18, 19-19, 20-20, and 21-21.
The Spartans made an impression on Mater Dei coach Chad Rakers.
“That St. Joseph-Ogden team was legit,” Rakers said. “They are the real deal defensive team.
“They are a force to be reckoned with and made us fight for every point.”
Mater Dei landed four of its 10 service aces in the third set.
“They kept us moving,” McDonald said, “and our serve-receive broke down at times.
“It’s one of the first times our serve-receive has broken down in some time. That makes it hard for us to get into any kind of system offensively.”
SJ-O rolled up five of the final six points in the second set. McDonald felt good entering the tiebreaker.
“I hoped the momentum would carry us longer than it did,” she said.
The Spartans scored the first point – on a kill by Berry – but couldn’t take more than a one-point advantage in the set and fell behind for good, 8-7.
Burnett totaled 14 kills, Kaiser had eight kills, Berry had seven and Vallee six.
Bigger put up 32 assists. Stahl had 17 digs and Burnett ended with nine digs.
McDonald expected her team to rebound as strong as it did in the third-place match.
“It may not be the match they wanted, but we came to do a job and play as hard as we could,” she said. “So many teams would love to be in this moment.”
For the season, Bigger ended with a school season-record total of 949 assists. She also had a team-high 55 service aces.
Burnett, a 6-foot sophomore, slammed a team-high 327 kills. Berry had 264 kills.
Stahl led the Spartans with 314 digs. Burnett collected 297 digs. Kaiser had the most blocks, 45.
SJ-O ended the season with wins in 22 of its final 23 matches.
Impressively, the nine seniors have a bookend win for their high school careers to go with a victory in their final matches in junior high school.
St. Joseph Middle School won an IESA state title in Class 3A when the current seniors were in eighth-grade. That team included Albrecht, Berry, Bigger, Stahl, Trame and Wentzloff.
Royal Prairieview/Ogden, which feeds into SJ-O, ended its junior high season four years ago with a third-place win in Class 1A. That team included Aden, Kaiser and Taylor.
That is closure, with an exclamation mark.
