By Fred Kroner
St. Joseph-Ogden stormed back from a three-set loss to Mattoon in pool play on Saturday (Sept. 3) in the Mattoon Tournament to win the tournament championship with a win over the host school.
In pool play, Mattoon topped SJ-O 25-17, 18-25, 15-14.
The Spartans then posted back-to-back three-set wins to emerge victorious.
In the semifinals, SJ-O topped Taylorville 25-20, 15-25, 15-14 before winning the rematch with Mattoon 25-10, 20-25, 15-12.
To start the tournament, the Spartans swept past Pana (25-19, 25-21) and Mount Vernon (25-9, 25-11) in pool play.
Shayne Immke drilled 44 kills for the day-long tourney, Addie Roesch landed 40 kills and Peyton Williams added 21 kills.
A balanced defensive effort featured 38 digs by Roesch, 34 by Mikyla Haley, 33 by Williams, 29 by Taylor Hug and 22 by Immke.
Hug handed out 107 assists to go with five service aces. Immke served six aces as did Emma Ward.
On Wednesday (Sept. 7), the Spartans earned a 25-23, 25-17 win at Oakwood.
Hug recorded a double-double with 15 assists and 10 digs. Immke contributed eight digs, five kills and two blocks. Roesch finished with seven kills.
SJ-O (8-4) returns to action on Monday (Sept. 12) at Hoopeston Area.
