Volleyball wins at T-town, soccer b'deviled

Sports Book: September 5

Volleyball team crushes T-town in straight sets

Abby McDonald's 2019 team battled to a 25-18, 25-13 victory on the road handing the Teutopolis (3-1) their first loss of the season.

Four SJO hitters collected six kills a piece in the two-setter.

Emily Bigger, Jenna Albrecht, Katelyn Berry and Kennedi Burnett were responsible for 24 of the Spartans' 32 kills. Bigger was credited with 25 assists.

T-town's Carly Michels had 7 kills and 3 digs against the Spartans. Kelsey Deters had 34 sets & 11 assists for the Lady Shoes in the non-conference loss.

St. Joseph-Ogden's junior varsity squad fell 2-1 by way of a, 27-25, 19-25, 17-25 decision. The Spartan freshman were unsuccessful in the quest for a victory dropping a pair of heartbreakers, 25-23 25-21.

Spartan soccer team suffers tough loss

After securing their first win of the season last over Schlarman Academy, the SJO soccer team drop their non-conference meeting against Bismarck-Henning, 10-1.

Mason Behrens scored the teams only goal as the team sinks to 1-4-1 on the season. Senior Zac Seeley took four shots on the Blue Devils but was unable to put the ball between the bars. Rookie goal keeper Hunter Ketchum saw 18 shots during his tenure in the box and made five saves.

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Attention high school and junior high coaches: Please send game scores and stats to us. Send results and weekly stats to sports@oursentinel.com.

Change Log: This story was updated 9/10/19 with St. Joseph-Ogden stat leaders.

Volleyball bounces Cissna Park, 2-0

(Photo: PhotoNews Media/Clark Brooks)

Lacey Kaiser serves the ball during set 2 of SJO's home match against Cissna Park. Kaiser hit a team-high five aces against the Timberwolves.

In the time it would have taken to make quick trip to the restroom, have a five minute chat with an acquaintance in the cafeteria about homecoming while buying a bag of popcorn and soda, and then make your way to your seat, you would have probably missed a third of the St. Joseph-Ogden's home volleyball game against Cissna Park last Tuesday.

It took just under 35 minutes for the St. Joseph-Ogden volleyball team to power past the visiting Timberwolves, 2-0.

The Spartans rushed out to a 3-0 lead in the first set. Then, after a side out, rattled off eight consecutive points to go up 11-1 behind the serving of Katelyn Berry.

Berry, a senior, finished the non-conference contest with four aces, four kills and four digs.

Pushing to keep the game tempo quick and not waste time between points, SJO kept the offensive pedal to metal on their way to a 25-7 first set win.

"We have to get better every time we step out here," said head coach Abby McDonald. "We talked about how we are going to make that happen, no matter what their offense looked like, and stay focused to the end."

The second was nearly a mirror of the first, except with a few casting changes. Up 6-4, SJO collected nine unanswered points with Lacey Kaiser on the back line serving. She finished the night with five aces and four kills.

With their backs up against the wall at 15-5, the Timberwolves gave up another five points watching their deficit increase by 15 to 20-5. From that point on the two teams rotated scoring to an eventual 25-9 conclusion.

"I thought the kids handled that very well," she added, referring to the level of competition and the unusual schedule order on Tuesday. The varsity team played the first match instead of the traditional nightcap.

"I thought this opportunity to play first was actually a good thing for us because during the postseason you sometimes step and play the first match," said McDonald. "I told them to use this to our advantage and I thought they did a nice job of doing that."

Thanks to Emily Bigger, who had 21 assist, Kennedi Burnett led the Spartan offense at the net with seven kills. Payton Vallee chipped in another five.

Grimsley leads golf team at Viking Invite, SJO football 2-0

Sports Book: September 6

Miller's defensive TD buoys SJO over Rantoul

Jaden Miller picked up a high bouncing ball and ran it into the end zone for a needed 6 points after a Rantoul punt was deflected off one of their own linemen. The senior defensive lineman's quick action help St. Joseph-Ogden defeat the host Eagles 22-8 on Friday.

"Freaking awesome," grinned Miller after the game. "First touchdown ever in high school. It sealed the game away."

Less than two weeks earlier, he said one of the things he would liked to accomplish this season was to post a defensive score for the Spartans. Earlier in the game, his younger sibling Coby scored a touchdown on a 15-yard run on the first play of the second quarter. Jarrett Stevenson plunged into the end zone on the two-point conversion to tie the score at 8-all.

Jarrett Stevenson led SJO with 99 yards rushing on 19 carries. Coby Miller chipped in 39 more to the help the St. Joseph-Ogden chalk up just 216 yards in the Week 2 Illini Prairie Conference contest.

The Spartans will host Bloomington Central Catholic on Friday at the SJO Sports Complex. The Saints (0-2), who start the season with back-to-back losses, fell in a one-point decision to Pontiac in their season opener and dropped their second league match to Prairie Central, 28-21.

Grimsley leads Spartans at the Viking Invitational

Payton Grimsley led the Spartans with 92 at last Friday's Viking Invitational held at the Turtle Run Golf Course in Danville.

Riley Myren shot a 96 and was chased by Joe Acton's 101 and Jacob Kern's 106. Jack Robertson finished they meet with a 121 and Maddux Carter left the course after recording 124 strokes.

The St. Joseph-Ogden squad competed against eighteen teams for top honors. Normal Community, which carded a 305 to take the this year's team title, finished six strokes ahead of runner-up Edwardsville.

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Attention high school and junior high coaches: Please send game scores and stats to us. Send results and weekly stats to sports@oursentinel.com.

Memory Monday: Boys and girls cross country team compete at Cow Chip Classic

St. Joseph-Ogden's Drew Knipfer runs ahead of the lead pack of runners as they make their way long the course at the 2011 Cow Chip Classic. Knipfer was the only Spartan male runner to place number one in his flight. He finished the Number 4 race with a time of 17:15. Click here to see 180 photos of SJO runners competing at one of the area's longest prep cross country events in downstate Illinois. Photo: PhotoNews Media/Clark Brooks

Left: Remy Smetzer runs the last 100 yards of the Open race back on roasting hot September 3 morning. Due to extreme, unseasonably hot temperatures the three-mile race was cut in half. Right: Competing in temperatures near 90 degrees, two-sport athlete Corey Thompsen keeps a steady stride as he navigates the three-mile course. Photo: PhotoNews Media/Clark Brooks

Maintaining his position in a pack of runners, Spartan Alex Arteaga represented SJO in the Number 5 Race. He completed the course with a time of 18:39, good for a fifth place award. Photo: PhotoNews Media/Clark Brooks

Left: Cross country specialist Loren Brooks navigates the three-mile course. The Spartan girls won the meet title with a score of 13 points besting Mahomet-Seymour in second and the Monticello Sages, who placed third. Right: With a look of determination and focus on the runners ahead of her, Tessa Vowels runs her second lap around the Cow Chip Classic course. Vowels finished second in the Number 5 Flight with a time of 21:58. See more photos of Vowels and the Spartan cross country team competing at the Cow Chip Classic here: 2011 Cow Chip Classic. Photo: PhotoNews Media/Clark Brooks