Rockets take 4th place at Reed-Custer Lady Comets Classic
BRAIDWOOD -- Unity won one match, tied two, and lost two at the Lady Comets volleyball tournament on Saturday.
The Rockets fell 2-0 to Maroa-Forsyth and De La Salle in close contests. The Trojans prevailed 25-23, 25-14, and the Meteors from Chicago squeaked by UHS, 25-18, 25-20.
The team split sets against Putnam County, losing the first by three, 25-22, and storming back to take the second set, 25-18.
Kaitlyn Schweighart, who finished the tournament with 18 kills and 58 digs, and the Rockets also split sets in their confrontation with the Momence volleyball program, 17-25, 25-16.
UHS' only victory on the five-match day was 25-23, 25-11, win over Mendota.
Junior
Ruby Tarr had 33 assists and made 22 digs during the tournament. Meanwhile,
Jayci McGraww booked 31 assists and five digs, and
Julia Ping helped the team's defensive effort collecting 35 digs and nine assists.
The Rockets are back in action two days next week at the Rocket Center. Starting Monday, Tarr & Co. host the Bulldogs of St. Teresa and then play a conference showdown against the Monticello. The Sages are 0-2 in conference play with straight two-set loses to St. Thomas More and Paxton-Buckley-Loda this season.
Spartans one win away from 10th
GEORGETOWN -- The St. Joseph-Ogden soccer team rallied back from a one-goal first-half deficit with two goals to beat Georgetown-Ridge Farm-Westville, 2-1.
The Buffaloes produced the only score in the first half despite numerous opportunities for SJO. A pass from freshman
Ryker Lockhart gave
Collin Thomey the opportunity to tie the game 1-all in the second half. Later, Lockhart put the ball between the post around the GRFW keeper to give the Spartans the go-ahead goal.
Spencer Wilson got credit for the assist for the 9-3-1 Spartans.
Senior
Hunter Ketchum and backup keeper
Jacek Slowikowski, each guarding the goal for a half, made two saves each.
Luke Barney nailed the first goal of the game for the Buffaloes.
Unity outscored, 2-0
Tolono -- The Rockets' soccer team fell 2-0 to visiting Illinois Valley Central Saturday morning. The Grey Ghosts improved to 1-4 in conference play after scoring a goal in each half of the Illini Prairie Conference match.
Unity (2-13, 0-6) hosts Fisher on Monday at home. Opening kick is slated for 4:30p.
SJO 4th, Unity 9th at cross-country meet
St. Joseph -- St. Joseph-Ogden's
Jack Fisher turned in a team-best 16:10.32 finish to help the Spartans finish fourth out of 28 participating teams after running in the 50th installment of the Spartan Classic.
The Rockets, who finished ninth in the team standings, were paced by
Brendan Graven. He completed the 3-mile course in 16 minutes and 38.58 seconds Saturday morning. Urbana University High's
Pieter Duursma led the Illinek's effort to the finish line, circumventing the course for a 34th overall finish at 16:51.57.
The St. Teresa boys' team won this year's team title with 60 points. El Paso-Gridley finished in second place with 92 points, and third place went to Tuscola with 113 points.
Unity girls when Spartan Classic title
St. Joseph -- The Rockets cross-country team finished first out of 27 teams at this year's Spartan Classic. Uni-High finished in third place with 149 points behind El Paso-Gridley's 97-point second-place effort. Unity's top-five runners finished the 3-mile course under 19 minutes or better for an impressive 38 points.
The St.Joseph-Ogden harriers finished in seventh place in the team standings.
Rockets'
Erika Woodard, a junior, won the individual title crossing the finish line first for the ladies with a time of 17:12.28. Senior
Kate Ahmari, who led the Illinek program around the course throughout St. Joseph, finished at 17:49.40 in 3rd place overall. The Spartans top runner, sophomore
Savanna Franzen, clocked in at 18:02.08 for a 6th place finish overall.
Attention area high school coaches
If you are a coach at Unity, Urbana Uni-High, Urbana High School or St. Joseph-Ogden, send us your box scores, statistical leaders for each game, and other info via email to
sports@oursentinel.com or
editor@oursentinel.com.
