Spartans ‘chill out,’ knock off Pretzels

Comments (...)

E-mail this story

Print this story

Comments

Share

ROCHELLE – The Sycamore volleyball team remained calm.

The Spartans knew things would turn around.

After falling behind by seven points early in the first game of the Class 5A Rochelle Sectional final to Freeport, the Spartans rallied.

And they never relented, beating the Pretzels, 25-18, 25-20, to advance to Saturday’s Sterling Super-Sectional against Normal University High. It was the Spartans’ fifth sectional title in Debbie Klock’s 14 years as head coach during a span when they have reached the sectional final seven times.

“I learned from the Sterling game (sectional semifinal) that I needed to chill out,” Klock said. “We had a long discussion on the trip back on the bus. We didn’t even get to celebrate it.”

Klock said she got too emotional when the Spartans (33-6) fell behind against Sterling in Game 2. This time, when they fell behind early in both games, she didn’t panic.

In the first game, Jill Johnson was serving when the Spartans rattled off nine straight points after trailing 12-5.

In the second game, it was Kaitlyn Roach serving when the Spartans rallied from down 14-10 to leading 17-14.

Those two rallies were the difference in the match.

“A lot of it had to do with Jill’s sets and decisions,” Klock said. “Evyn draws the block, our middles are real smart and we knew where we needed to get the ball.”

That destination point, most of the time, was Brittany Olson, who finished with eight kills and two blocks.

Freeport (24-7) blocked Olson well at the start of each game but when the Spartans started moving the ball around, the Pretzels lost track of Olson.

“I don’t think this team gets rattled, it takes a lot for us to get rattled,” Olson said. “I think that’s something that’s our strength.

“When you’re down, a lot of teams can’t come back. But we’ve done that a lot.”

The other Spartans hitters that made a big difference were Kate Binder (six kills, two blocks), Evyn McCoy (six kills, five blocks) and Stephanie Huber (four kills, two blocks).

Sarah Verkler had 17 digs and Justine Schepler had 14.

That diversity has the Spartans hoping for big things entering Saturday’s 7 p.m. match with University High as they hope to reach the state’s Final Four for the second time in three seasons.

“They believed in each other and they set the goal of where they wanted to be,” Klock said.

Comments