SJO's Payton Vallee goes up to block a kill attempt by Bloomington Central Catholic's Kate Moorman-Wolfe. Vallee had five kills against the Saints. Photo: PhotoNews Media/Clark Brooks
|
SJO dominated the opening set from the get-go. After dropping the first point, Bigger & Co. rattled of the nine unanswered points to take a 9-1 lead. It was a hole too deep for Central Catholic to recover from with the Spartan's hitters keeping the deficit at seven points or more the remainder of the set.
Up by 11 at 21-10, BCC would score one more point before the senior dominated squad closed out a brilliantly played set, 25-11.
The Spartans meticulously built a six-point lead after the first 14 points of the second set to go up, 10-4. The Saints, playing a much better defensive game, closed the gap to 11-8 and got within three points again at 12-9 before SJO's offense reignited.
After two unanswered points followed by a five-point run and then six unanswered points, SJO took commanding lead at 23-11. Three serves later the match was over ending the final set, 25-12.
Kennedi Burnett hits the ball down-the-line for one of her 10 kills. Photo: PhotoNews Media/Clark Brooks
|
Completely in the zone, Burnett collected a double-double with ten kills and ten digs. The senior also booked two of the team's four blocks. Classmate Katelyn Berry, hitting .467 for the evening, contributed eight kills and four digs to the cause.
Then there was Bigger. Outdoing her four-ace performance against Rantoul earlier in the week, she added another six to her career stats. The senior also had three digs and smashed a pair of kills on Saints.
Rounding out the total team effort, Payton Vallee was credited with five of the team's 31 kills in the conference win to help the Spartans pick up their 18th win of the season. Rylee Stahl, Kenly Taylor and Lacey Kaiser with three kills, each had five digs apiece.
ST. JOSEPH -- St. Joseph-Ogden High School will introduce four new inductees to the St. Joseph-Ogden Hall of Fame during the Spartan football team's Homecoming game against Nokomis. The distinquished group includes 1960 graduate 
Seventy-six St. Joseph-Ogden High School seniors earned honor roll recognition in the final quarter of the year. Of that number, 50 students were awarded earned High Honor Roll status.
Students who earn a grade point average of 3.25 or higher on the school's 4.0 scale are recognized as Honor Roll students. Those whose GPA soared above 3.74 are receive High Honor Roll recognition.
Click on individual names to discover more Sentinel articles about each Honor Roll student.
Kennedi Burnett collected 11 kills and six digs in St. Joseph-Ogden's 2-0 win over Bismarck-Henning-Rossville-Alvin on Tuesday. The senior added a match-high five aces to her season stats and Shayne Immke pounded three of her own over the net in the two-setter.
Immke (5 kills, 1 block, 6 digs) and the Spartans advance to the regional title match against Decatur St. Teresa.
After nearly even play, SJO pulled away on the scoreboard in the first set with a six-point run reaching 10-5. BHRA, unable to sustain any momentum with Immke and Burnett on the other side of the net, lost the first set, 25-14.
"Our girls are playing confidently," said head coach Abby McDonald. "We're excited to be where we are at the end of October. Our goal was to be at our best at the end October."
The second set was much of the same with the Spartans jumping out to a 7-1 one lead. Taking their foot off the gas, SJO allowed the Blue Devils to erase a seven-point deficit to get within two at 11-9.
McDonald called timeout after the Blue Devils scored six unanswered points. When play resumed, Burnett notched another kill and rotated to the back line to serve. She promptly hit a well-placed ace to help her team go up 13-9 on the scoreboard. From that point on, the Spartans were firmly back in control of the reigns on their way to a 25-16 finish.
On a scale of 1-10, McDonald said the team's effort was a 7.
"I always think we can play better," she said. "We will work on what we need to in practice tomorrow."
St. Joseph-Ogden's Becca Steinback was credited with 21 assists, a block and four digs.
