Spartans' Shayne Immke and Rachel Divan try to block a kill attempt by Pleasant Plain's Lauren Buxton during their sectional semifinal at Monticello High School on November 1. St. Joseph-Ogden (23-5) won the first set 25-17 but dropped the last two to the eventual state runner-up Cardinals (34-6), 25-20 and 25-21. The 2-1 loss ended SJO's 2021 run for the program's third state final four appearance. See more photos from this game.
Photo: PhotoNews Media/Clark Brooks
Search the PhotoNews Media archives for more photos:
St. Joseph-Ogden's Becca Steinbach and Rachel Divan (right) team up to block a hit from Bismarck-Henning-Rossville-Alvin during first set action of their regional semifinal match on Tuesday. The Spartans, who won the postseason opener in straight sets, 24-14, 25-16, advance to the Thursday's regional title contest against St. Teresa. The Bulldogs advanced to their second meeting against SJO after knocking of Hoopeston Area, 25-16, 25-9, in an earlier match. More Sentinel photos coming soon.
(Left to right) St. Joseph-Ogden's Anna Wentzloff, Alex Frerichs, Hannah Umbarger and Shayne Immke celebrate a point for the Spartans with head coach Abby McDonald during game three of their Class 2A supersectional match against Chicago Christian. After dropping the first set, SJO came back to take the match 2-1 on November 8, 2019. McDonald and the Spartans went on to finish third in the state during the 2019-20 season. After a nearly a eight month delay for their season, McDonald and the Spartans can begin practicing for the 2021 spring season on Monday. This academic year the IHSA volleyball season will run March 15, or seven days after the team's first practice after that date, until April 24.
Just as her older sister in 2016, Kennedi Burrnett will play volleyball on the state's biggest stage under the bright lights of Redbird Arena. The opportunity would not have been possible had it not been for St. Joseph-Ogden's smoldering turnaround midway into the second set of their supersectional match against Chicago Christian last Friday.
Seniors Jenna Albrecht (left) and Lacey Kaiser celebrate their supersectional title win with head coach Abby McDonald.
After dropping the first set 25-15, the Spartans found their groove after a gritty 25-23 second set and playing the brand of volleyball that fueled 20 consecutive match wins, took the third set and the match, 25-16.
"We came out a little hesitant," said Burnett, who like her sister Abby, will play on a final four Spartan volleyball team for the coveted Class 2A state title. "But then we just jumped back into it. We knew this is what we were waiting for all year. We just kept it together."
Burnett tallied a team-high 11 kills. She also came up big defensively with nine digs and two blocks for the Spartans.
"I think my nerves got into my head a little bit," said outside hitter Katelyn Berry. She was confident that her teammates would do what was needed to get the win, but to secure the win she had to step up her game. "I knew for my team I had to make a change."
The timidity felt by the Spartans in the opening set was both palatable and warranted by the way the Chicago Christian's six-foot, one-inch outside hitter Lia Moore was pounding the ball into the back court. The Michigan State recruit, who will become a Spartan herself next fall, couldn't miss.
Another six-footer for the Knights, Logan Grevengoed and the 5-foot-11 Delanie Grevengoed formed a wall above the tape the Spartan could not penetrate easily.
"I thought our opponent did a great job of keeping us out of system," said head coach Abby McDonald. The pace of the rallies was faster than what she and her assistant coaches saw in the film they had at their disposal. "It was really fast and intense. We were on our heels on defense."
Rylee Stahl celebrates a point for the Spartans. The senior libero had a team a team-high 19 digs to lead SJO into the Class 2A final four. (Photo: PhotoNews Media/Clark Brooks)
Leading up to a 17-all score in the second set, the score between was tied seven times with the Knights scoring the go-ahead point.
On the eight tie, SJO surged ahead ticking off three unanswered points to get to a 20-17 tilt before Knights' head coach Karen Van Assen called a timeout.
McDonald used the break to inspire her players.
"She just told us to forget about that set. We've been there before and we know how to come back from that," Berry recounted. She was held to just six kills by the Knights. "We know how to come back from that. A new set is a new set."
Holding on to win the second set would put the final match outcome in SJO's favor. Prior to the supersectional, out of the seven three-setters this season, SJO took the match in all but two. The Spartans lost to St. Thomas More and St. Teresa, who will also play a semifinal on Friday, in deciding third sets. SJO won their last five extended matches and the odds were dramatically in their favor if they finish the second set with a win.
"Honestly, I felt Katelyn did really well," senior Stephanie Trame said about Berry's overall performance. "She had a great attitude when she was blocked. She didn't let it get in her head."
Trame was contributed seven of the SJO's 34 match kills.
"We had more energy in the second set and started playing as a team," she added. "We found ourselves."
With their confidence continuing to swell and the combined defensive leadership of Rylee Stahl and Emily Bigger, St. Joseph-Ogden pulled out the second set, 25-23. At libero, Stahl keep the ball in play with a team-high 19 digs. Bigger had 16 and made 26 passes. In one of their best defensive efforts of the season, SJO players combined for 70 digs in the three-setter.
Payton Vallee bouyed the Spartans on both offense and defense as well. In addition to her two digs, the junior along with senior Lacey Kaiser, who notched 8 digs, were co-leaders in blocks at the net with three apiece. Vallee also put away six well-placed kills in the supersectional effort.
Emily Bigger and Stephanie Trame get their hands up to deflect a shot by Chicago Christian's Olivia Ingelse during first set action on Friday at Chicago Christian High School. (Photo: PhotoNews Media/Clark Brooks)
"We went into the third set with a lot of momentum," McDonald said. "We were in their heads offensively and defensively. They were having to think about every touch on the ball."
Her team jumped out to a modest 4-1 lead to open the final set. Chicago Christian worked their way out of the deficit to tie the game at 4-4 thanks to an ace.
SJO immediately got a sideout and took the lead. They pieced together a five-point run forcing the Knights to burn a timeout staring 9-5 deficit.
When the action resumed, the Spartans continued to exploited the hole it found in the hard-hitting Chicago Christian armor and increased the scoring gap by eight points to 19-11.
"We've got three kids that can swing. We've got a defense that is quick and aggressive," McDonald said about the momentum shift. "I just thought that once we got going and our kids gained some confidence and knew we could compete with them. I knew we could pull it out."
Eleven serves later, the SJO contingent - players, fans and parents - were celebrating a well-deserved victory.
"There are just so many emotions right now," Burnett said. "I'm just so excited. I'm blessed to be with all these people on the court and I couldn't be happier."
Herscher staved off four consecutive match points in the third and final set, closing the gap to 24-23, before Spartan Kennedi Burnett sealed the deal for the St. Joseph-Ogden volleyball team at the Class 2A Watseka sectional plaque last night.
Burnett, a sophomore outside hitter, capped the night with a double-double (17 kills, 10 digs) to help the St. Joseph-Ogden volleyball team extend their season two more days and one match, at the very least. After a grueling 25-19, 12-25, 25-23 victory, SJO carried home their second postseason sectional title in three years and advanced to the Palos Heights supersectional.
St. Joseph-Ogden's magical season is powered by nine seniors on the 14 spot roster that makes up this year's volleyball squad. The Class of 2020 players include (left to right) Katelyn Berry, Lacey Kaiser, Lindsey Aden, Stephanie Trame, Rylee Stahl, Emily Bigger, Jenna Albrecht, Kenly Taylor and Anna Wentzloff. After at 2-1 win over Herscher on Wednesday evening, the Spartans, who will face Chicago Christian on the Knights' home court for the supersectional title, are just one win away from reaching the Illinois High School Association state finals on November 15-16. (PhotoNews Media/Clark Brooks)
The Spartan win closed the door the Tigers' storybook season after their second-ever Sweet Sixteen appearance in program history. In one of their best seasons in more than a half decade, Herscher (32-6) secured the school’s first regional title since 2012 and a share of the Illinois Central Eight Conference crown with a squad staffed similar to SJO with 10, instead of nine, seniors.
Bringing her A-game to the hardwood, Emily Bigger's passing allowed the Spartan hitting crew of Burnett, senior Katelyn Berry and junior Payton Vallee to stay aggressive enough to smash the ball past their tenacious opponents. Bigger, also a senior and had six digs, was credited with 40 assists.
Berry's vicious swing contributed 10 kills to the Spartan effort. Vallee added another 11. Lacey Kaiser, another senior on the crew, contributed six to round out the attack from the front line.
Another senior, Rylee Stahl, one of the team's three defensive stars, logged 17 digs.
Wednesday night's three-setter win was St. Joseph-Ogden's 35th of the season and kicked their win streak one tick to 20. The last time head coach Abby McDonald won a Sweet Sixteen title, her team placed second at Redbird Arena in the state finals.
Next in their path to a state finals appearance, the Spartans will lock swords with the 32 win, five loss Knights of Chicago Christian Friday evening in Palos Heights. The supersectional match is slated to start at 6:30 p.m. on their opponent's home court.
After their three-set regional semifinal opener against Nobel/Butler, the Knights have given up a total of just 25 points in two matches since then. Chicago Christian also received a bye, courtesy of a double-forfeit, as a result of the Chicago Public School strike last month.
The location suits McDonald just fine who has repeatedly said all season that this year's squad, who are one win away from reaching the IHSA state finals, plays better on the road than at home.
Two of the Spartans' four losses were at home. Of the four, the only team that remains in the postseason is St. Teresa, who faces Orion in the Farmington Supersectional. Champaign Central, St. Thomas More and Mahomet-Seymour have been eliminated from the postseason brackets.
The St. Joseph-Ogden volleyball team is back in familiar territory. For a second straight season the girls team will play for a sectional championship award.
The Spartans (32-4) defeated Seneca 25-17, 25-11, making a reservation as one of the two teams to play for the Watseka title. The other team, Herscher, will square off with SJO at 6pm at Watseka.
Last year, SJO fell in the title match to eventual state bronze medalists St. Thomas More, 25-22, 25-13. The Sabers also knocked Abby McDonald's 2017 squad out of the postseason after a 2-0 win for the regional title.
On Monday, sophomore hitter Kennedi Burnett led the SJO offense against Lady Irish with 12 kills and four digs. Heather Stahl added another seven digs to help her team who have not dropped a match since September 26 and who are enjoying a 17-match win streak.
Senior passer Emily Bigger had 18 assist and six digs to help put the Spartans just two matches away from a possible return to Illinois High School Association Class 2A state tournament. Three season ago the SJO volleyball team, who went 31-4, finished the season as division's runner up in 2016.
In high school volleyball it is pretty hard to beat a good team twice in a row.
The trick for St. Joseph-Ogden was to win the Oakwood regional title on Thursday and do it again against Monticello, who they played a week earlier in the last match of the Illini Prairie Conference regular season. The Spartans got the treat they were looking for and the first of a few more to come in the postseason after clipping the Sages in two sets, 25-17, 25-14.
Setter Emily Bigger passes the ball during St. Joseph-Ogden's first set against Monticello at the Oakwood Regional on Thursday. (Photo: PhotoNews Media/Clark Brooks)
The hard work the team has put in showed throughout the season showed in SJO's seemingly stress free, effortless play. One of things that senior Lacey Kaiser says the team had to do reach their currently level of play was talk more.
"Our communication has improved since the beginning," she said. "It was hard for a lot us because not many of us are super outgoing."
Kaiser led the team with three aces from the service line. She padded her stats with three kills and a trio of digs against the Sages.
"I believe in my teammates," she said. "If we get down, I know we can pull through and get back to win."
The Spartans were up 19-9 in the first set, but didn't close it out right away. Monticello dug in their heals and won eight of the next 13 points before SJO shut the door.
"I think we have definitely improved on capitalizing on certain points, and pushing whenever we should," said fellow senior Rylee Stahl. "We've worked a lot on siding out on the next point and not giving teams consecutive points in a row."
The Sages took a 4-1 lead in the second set before the Spartans reestablished control of the momentum going up 7-5 behind the pile driving swings of Katelyn Berry, Payton Vallee and sophomore Kennedi Burnett.
Berry finished the contest with a team-high nine kills and five digs. Vallee, a junior and outside hitter, contributed four kills and Burnett, who played strong defensively, had four kills and 10 digs.
Thursday's victory would not have been possible if it wasn't for the passing accuracy of Emily Bigger who took credit for 23 assists. She also scored a rare kill and contributed seven of the team's 45 digs.
"I think this win means a lot, but we are not super, super, super excited about it because it is just regionals," said Stahl, who like the rest of team, has her sights set on the king size of postseason candy, a state trophy. "We have a lot more to accomplish this season."
While teammate Lacey Kaiser (on the left) looks on while teammate Emily Bigger holds the team's new regional plaque for Payton Vallee to kiss. After beating Monticello 2-0, the Spartans advance in the IHSA volleyball postseason to face Seneca on Monday. (Photo: PhotoNews Media/Clark Brooks)
The Spartans advance to Monday's sectional semifinal against Seneca at Watseka.
The Lady Irish defeated Manteno in both sets 25-22 to win the Peotone Regional. On Tuesday, they dropped the first set of their semifinal to Manteno 20-25 and came back to take the last two, 25-21, 25-21. The two teams are scheduled to start at 6pm.
It will be back to work analyzing the Lady Irish for SJO, but in the mean time, Kaiser and the Spartans will savor the new regional hardware.
"It feels awesome," Kaiser said. "We knew we wanted to get this."
Right to left: Emily Bigger, Katelyn Berry, Jenna Albrecht and Rylee Stahl step forward to receive St. Joseph-Ogden's regional championship plaque from Oakwood principal Tim Lee after defeating Monticello, 2-0. The Spartans advance to the Watseka sectional semifinal on Monday to face Seneca in the 6pm match. (Photo: PhotoNews Media/Clark Brooks)
The St. Joseph-Ogden volleyball team opened their postseason play with an unusual victory on Tuesday. The Spartans served 16 aces across two short games to beat regional host Oakwood, 2-0.
Emily Bigger serves one of her nine aces against the Comets in the St. Joseph-Ogden High School's regional volleyball game on Tuesday. The Spartans won 2-0 and advance to Thursday's title game against Monticello. (Photo: PhotoNews Media/Clark Brooks)
In the opening set, the Spartans tallied the first 17 points largely thanks to the serving prowess of senior Emily Bigger. The setter served 17 unanswered points before Oakwood finally lit up the board with a tipped ball.
"I didn't feel nervous. I was pretty confident," Bigger replied when asked if she experienced any stress from having to serve as many points as she did. "I just had to get the ball over the net."
Tuesday wasn't the first time in Bigger's volleyball career that she serve a high number consecutive service points. In a junior high game against Schlarman years ago, she vividly remember serving all 25 points.
"It takes a lot of mental toughness for Emily to stay back there that long," said head coach Abby McDonald. "It was a good start."
Nine of the 16 aces were courtesy of Bigger. Rylee Stahl had four, Kennedi Burnett added two and Lindsey Aden chipped in one for good measure.
After the Comets scored their first point at 17-1, the Spartans took advantage of the next side out to go on a five-point mini run advancing the count to 22-1. SJO casually allowed four more points to take the first set, 25-5.
The second set featured much longer rallies that kept the Comets back up against the wall from the opening point. St. Joseph-Ogden jumped out to a 3-0 lead and never had look over their shoulder once on the way to a 25-8 finish.
"Our kids kept fighting and stayed rather stable to the end," said McDonald, who watched her team pound 24 kills. "We are playing really complete volleyball right now."
Burnett, a sophomore, led all hitters with nine kills and five digs. Payton Vallee lumped on another six. Katelyn Berry had six.
"This time of year brings out a different level of play," McDonald said. She likes the level of cohesiveness that her team is bringing to the floor. "They are really dialed in right now."
Bigger is eager to play for the title on Thursday.
"I feel like our bond is stronger than any other team," she said. "We've worked just as hard as we can to get where we want to be in the end."
The Spartans will face Monticello in an Illini Prairie Conference rematch at 6pm on Thursday.
The Sages, who advanced to the championship game after escaping a 25-21, 32-30 scare from the Tuscola Warriors, dropped the final match of the regular season to the Spartans, 25-17, 25-19.
We dug back 15 years on an old hard drive to bring this week's Memory Monday feature. On the left, St.Joseph-Ogden's Traesha Worley makes solid contact with the ball for a kill against Mt. Pulaski on November 6, 2004. The Hilltoppers beat the Spartans 25-15, 25-21 to win the Hoopeston Supersectional title Saturday night. SJO, playing an independent schedule this season, finished a marvelous, memorable season with 28 wins and 6 losses. See more photos from this match almost 15 years ago here: Spartans vs Hilltoppers.
#MemoryMonday
In the photo above, From the bench, Stacy Buck and coaches [left to right] Megan Blair, head coach Lydia Gard, and Erica Weber keep their attention on different facets of the St. Joseph-Ogden volleyball team's effort to advance to the IHSA state tournament against a powerful Mt. Pulaski team. On the left, Sarah Thompson passes the ball forward during a heated rally. Mt. Pulaski went on finish the season as the Class 1A runner-up at the IHSA State Volleyball Finals. (All photos: PhotoNews Media/Clark Brooks)
Photos from St. Joseph-Ogden's November 2022 playoff football game against Olympia. Despite a solid team effort against a high-powered offense and much-improved football program, SJO's football season came to an unfortunate end after a 60-28 road loss to the Spartans.
