SJO volleyball drops road match, gears up for grueling week ahead

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St. Joseph-Ogden volleyball drops first match of the season 25-13, 25-17. Emma McKinney leads with six digs. Home opener vs. Mahomet-Seymour on Sept. 2.

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BISMARCK - The St. Joseph-Ogden volleyball team continued its early-season road swing on Thursday, falling in straight sets to Bismarck-Henning, 25-19, 25-16.

Emerson Williams paced the Spartans with four kills and six assists, while setter Emma McKinney dished out 11 assists to go with two kills. Ally Schmitz contributed two kills and three digs, and both Hadley McDonald and Addi Childers added two kills apiece. Childers also led the blocking effort with two at the net.

Defensively, libero Katie Ericksen anchored the back row with 11 digs. Despite the effort, SJO (0-2) mustered only seven kills in each set and couldn’t find the consistency to extend the match.

The Spartans face a demanding schedule next week, starting Saturday with a matchup at Mahomet-Seymour. The Bulldogs, last year’s Class 3A state champions, also visit SJO for the Spartans’ home opener on Tuesday at 7 p.m. in the Main Gym.

From there, Williams and company hit the road again, traveling to Armstrong-Potomac on Wednesday before heading to Teutopolis on Thursday. The week wraps up with a trip to the Mattoon Volleyball Tournament on Saturday.

Bismarck-Henning (1-1), which lost its opener to Unity, heads to Danville on Tuesday before hosting Villa Grove on Thursday.

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Match Leaders – SJO at Bismarck-Henning

• Emerson Williams: 4 kills, 6 assists
• Emma McKinney: 11 assists, 2 kills
• Ally Schmitz: 2 kills, 3 digs
• Hadley McDonald: 2 kills
• Addi Childers: 2 kills, 2 blocks
• Katie Ericksen: 11 digs

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TAGS: St. Joseph-Ogden volleyball 2025 schedule,SJO vs Bismarck-Henning volleyball recap, Mahomet-Seymour vs St. Joseph-Ogden volleyball preview, Spartan athletics volleyball coverage

St. Joseph-Ogden Volleyball 2025 Results

Date	Opponent	Location	Result	Score	Record
Aug. 26	@ Maroa-Forsyth	Road	L	13-25, 17-25	0-1
Aug. 28	@ Bismarck-Henning	Road	L	19-25, 16-25	0-2

2024 Vermilion Valley All-Conference Team announced this week

Oakwood - Senior Jaydah Arrowsmith, along with Salt Fork duo Alexa Jamison and Macie Russell, received first-team selection by Vermilion Valley Conference coaches this week. Arrowsmith, who dropped 32 points against Hoopeston Area in their game back in February, was the lone Oakwood player earning first-team honors. Haven Meyer from Watseka and Cissna Park's Addison Luchts rounded out the roster for the conference's top team.

Below is the complete list of players and the schools they represented in the 2023-24 season.

VERMILION VALLEY CONFERENCE

All-Conference Teams

First Team

Addison Lucht
Sophomore • Cissna Park

Jaydah Arrowsmith
Senior • Oakwood

Alexa Jamison
Junior • Salt Fork

Macie Russell
Senior • Salt Fork

Haven Meyer
Senior • Watseka

Second Team

Lauryn Hamrick
Sophomore • Cissna Park

Kendall Roberts
Senior • Georgetown-Ridge Farm

Claire Dixon
Junior • Hoopeston

Hunter Mowrey
Senior • Milford

Megan Martin
Junior • Watseka

3rd Team:

Marleigh Schmitt, Sr. Bismarck-Henning Rossville Alvin; Sophie Duis, So. Cissna Park; Addison Spesard, Jr. GRHS; Maddie Barnes, Jr. Hoopeston; and Amelia Scharp, So. Iroquois West.

Honorable Mention:

Elle Jameson, Fr. (Armstrong); Ella Myers, Sr. (BHRA); Olivia Radke, Sr. (Chrisman); Josie Neukomm, So. (CP); Madi Spesard, Fr. (GRHS); Brylie Cox, Jr, (HOOP); Ilyana Nambo, Sr. (IW); Kami Muehling, Fr. (Milford); Nikita Taylor, Sr. (OAK); Brycie Hird, So. (SF); Addison Forsyth, Fr. (Schlarman); Jasmine Essington, Sr. (WAT); and Lani Gondzur, Jr (WEST).

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Zamora leads Hoopeston Area in 8-point win over Westville

HOOPESTON -- Anthony Zamora stepped up with a 15 point finish to lead Hoopeston Area to a 54-46 conference win over Westville on Tuesday.

Zamora, averaging 12.3 points per game, made six of his eight shots from the field and drained half of his attempts from the line. The senior collected a team-high five steals.

Junior Owen Root and sophomore Trenton Montez also finished with double-digit scores against the Tigers. Root logged two boards and two assist to give the Vermilion Valley team their first conference win of the season with his 13 points performance. Montez came off the bench to score 10 points, four from the charity stripe.

The Cornjerkers improve to 4-5 on the season. The team travels to Milford (5-2) on Thursday to face the Bearcats in another conference test and follows up with another game on Friday evening at St. Anne (2-9), who are 1-3 at home against opponents this season.

Box Score

Hoopeston   13     7   16   18   - 54
Westville      13     5     5    23 - 46

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Hoopeston
Root 4(1)-3-2--13, Montez 3(0)-6-4--10, VanDerVeer 1(0)-1-3--5, Rush 0(2)-0-1--7, Zamora 6(0)-6-3--15, Sigerill 1(0)-2-1--3.

Westville
Not reported

VVC all-conference girls basketball team named this week

Seven Vermilion County athletes were named to the Vermilion Vally Conferece All-Conference team this week. The following players earned first-team recognition for their performance during the 2021-22 season:

Kyla Bullington, Junior
Armstrong-Potomac

Sophia Rome, Senior
Bismarck-Henning-Rossville-Alvin

Mikayla Knake, Junior
Cissna Park

Tori Birge, Senior
Hoopeston Area

Anna Hagan, Senior
Milford

Addie Wright, Junior
Oakwood

Alexa Jamison, Freshman
Salt Fork

Macie Russell, Sophomore
Salt Fork

Sydney McTaggart, Senior
Watseka

Allie Hoy, Senior
Watseka

SPECIAL MENTION: Mattie Kennel, Jr. (Armstrong); Addison Spesard, Fr. (GRF); Bre Crose, Jr. (HA); Ashlynn Pinnick, Sr. (Oakwood); Hadley Cox, Sr. (Westville); Shea Small, Jr. (IW); Ilyana Nambo, So. (IW); Hunter Mowrey, So. (Milford)

HONORABLE MENTION: Maddie Hudson, Sr. (Armstrong); Natalie Clapp, Jr. (BHRA); Kendl Lemmon, Sr. (Chrisman); Emma Morrical, Sr. (Cissna Park); Kendall Roberts, So. (GRF); Lacie Breymeyer, Jr. (HA); Destiny Thomas, Sr. (IW); Brynlee Wright, Jr. (Milford); Karsen Rupp, Sr. (Oakwood); Karlie Cain, Jr. (Salt Fork); Madison Watson, Jr. (SA); Claire Curry, Sr. (Watseka); Lydia Gondzur, Jr. (Westville)

Two freshman land spots on the Vermilion All-County team

The ten top girls basketball players in Vermilion county was announced earlier this week. The 2021-22 All-County team includes:

Kyla Bullington, Junior
Armstrong-Potomac

Mattie Kennel, Senior
Armstrong-Potomac

Sophia Rome, Senior
Bismarck-Henning-Rossville-Alvin

Addison Spesard, Freshman
Georgetown-Ridge Farm

Tori Birge, Senior
Hoopeston Area

Addie Wright, Junior
Oakwood

Ashlynn Pinnick, Senior
Oakwood

Alexa Jamison, Freshman
Salt Fork

Macie Russell, Sophomore
Salt Fork

Hadley Cox, Senior
Westville

SPECIAL MENTION: Natalie Clapp, So. (BHRA); Maddie Hudson, Sr. (Armstrong); Natalie Clapp, Jr. (BHRA); Ella Myers, So. (BHRA); Kendall Roberts, So. (GRF); Bre Crose, Jr. (HA); Lacie Breymeyer, Jr. (HA), Karlie Cain, Jr. (Salt Fork)

HONORABLE MENTION: Denley Heller, Sr. (Armstrong); Mikayla Cox,Jr. (BHRA); Sydney Spesard, So. (GRF); Claire Dixon, Fr. (HA); Jaydah Arrowsmith, So. (Oakwood); Brylie Smith, Jr. (Salt Fork); Lydia Gondzur, Jr. (Westville)