LEXINGTON, Ill. — When the Windsor/Stewardson-Strasburg volleyball team had their backs against the wall over the past four weeks of the season, the Hatchets found a way to change the tone of each match.
It happened in the National Trail Conference Tournament finals against St. Anthony. It happened again in the sectional finals against Heyworth. Both matches saw WSS win the first set and lose the second.
So, it was safe to say this Hatchets team was battle-tested heading into their super-sectional matchup with Cissna Park at Lexington High School on Monday night.
That same narrative could also be directed toward the opposition.
The Lady Timberwolves weren’t overwhelming dominant in their run to the super-sectional round, taking Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley to three sets and edging Yorkville Christian and Lexington by the slimmest of margins. The experience of advancing to the state tournament one year ago was there, along with the bulk of the team that got them there. That lifted them in those matches and lifted them once again on Monday, defeating WSS in two sets to advance to the state tournament for the second straight year.
“You don’t see hitters and blockers at this magnitude throughout the season as much except for our big tournaments,” head coach Ronda Schlechte said. “We played against big teams like this and did very well, but tonight wasn’t our night; it wasn’t in the cards.”
The Hatchets lost the first set 25-23.
“We started off the first set and the nerves got us,” Schlechte said. “We weren’t playing as strong. We were looking a little scared.”
WSS dominated the opening and middle stages of the second set, bursting out to a 15-9 lead.
“Second set, we had a big lead, and I felt more comfortable,” Schlechte said. “I thought we settled in, but they got us. I thought we put up a little bit of a fight, but we just couldn’t take that lead.”
Cissna Park came right back, though, cutting the lead to four points, 19-15, and forcing a timeout.
“To settle down, make sure they’re quicker on their block, and regroup a little bit to get that momentum back, as much as we could — try and react a little better,” said Schlechte on what she told her team during the break. “There’s not a whole lot you can tell them other than settle down and try to use our hitters just a little bit better and get the sets off the net a little bit more, things we’ve worked on all season that I didn’t think we were executing as much as we should have.
“Neves play a part in a game like this. They know it’s the end if we don’t play like we should.”
Brinlie Durbin finished with one service ace, one kill, 18 assists, four digs, and three blocked shots.
Mya Friese had one service ace, nine kills, two digs, and one blocked shot.
“I told her before the game, you got to be ready tonight because we are going to have to go to you a lot. The plan was to try to use her to go line a lot more than what we did, to try and take them out of system a little bit more. That doesn’t always happen, depending on what the past does and what the set does. Some of those didn’t get down as hard as we would have liked.
“I felt like we didn’t use her kills when we had to serve, so we didn’t get as many points as we should have. The timing wasn’t quite there whenever she wasn’t effectively set.”
Samantha Hayes had one kill, one dig, and one blocked shot. Ellie Wittenberg had one kill. Brooke Schumacher had one kill and five blocked shots. Colby McCormick had six kills and two digs. Alaira Friese had two service aces and two digs, and Zaida Wascher had two service aces, one assist, and three digs.
Kinley Quast finished with three service aces, one assist, and 16 digs.
“I had her at Trinity in second grade and worked with her as a setter,” Schlechte said. “She came in her freshman year and I knew she would take over a varsity spot. She has the talent — natural talent — to go after a ball and to read the balls. She has just excelled so much in the four years. She’s grown as a defensive player.
“When she came back from her first season from Illini Elite, she took control of the court more verbally. She was able to talk to the players. She showed so much leadership in helping guide the hitters on where they need to work on hitting the ball and placing it.”
Quast is a senior heading to Southern Illinois-Edwardsville next year to continue her volleyball career.
The Hatchets graduate Quast, Grace Carroll, Hayes, Avery Starwalt, Wittenberg, and Alaira Friese.
“We’re going to miss our seniors,” Schlechte said. “It’s a very hard talk after losing. Kinley wanted this state tournament so badly, and I wanted her to have it, and I wanted all of our seniors to get there because it’s just an amazing feeling.
“We haven’t been there since 2017, so I just wanted this year to be that year, and you wish you could give that to them.”
Cissna Park finished fourth in the state last year, losing to St. Anthony in three sets in the third-place match.
Schlechte noticed that the Lady Timberwolves were stronger than what the film she received showed.
“I felt like they came in stronger than what we saw on video. The video that we saw, I felt like we could have stayed with them a little bit better,” Schlechte said. “They came in really fighting for that state tournament.”
Defensively, the Hatchets struggled against a strong front-row attack.
“We weren’t reacting fast enough,” Schlechte said. “They have some powerhouse hitters that we weren’t able to defend.”
Schlechte added that she felt the blocking wasn’t timed correctly.
“Our blocking has been on the slow side,” Schlechte said. “When I talked to Heyworth’s coach the other night, he said in all the video he saw, we were not a blocking team, so he was really shocked and amazed at the blocking that we were able to do against his team.
“We’re either hot or cold with our blocking.”
At the end of the day, Schlechte knows that there is no reason for her team to hang their heads.
Though an upsetting moment, the team still was able to fight through unthinkable adversity.
“I think that when they have so many back and wanting to go back to that tournament, it gives them a reason to want to go back,” Schlechte said. “I was hoping that we had a little bit stronger of a reason to want to get there, too, but there’s nothing to hang our heads about. The girls should be very proud.
“Losing to a team like that is nothing to be upset about.”
The Hatchets will return eight players from the roster next season.
“That’s only going to make us stronger,” Schlechte said. “To have this much experience at the varsity level, some of them got varsity time last year. Making it to supers (last year), making it to supers this year, and having big roles on the team will only make them better next year.
“I just feel like the next two years, we should have really strong teams.”
WSS ends the season with a 31-9 record.
This all came after an unimaginable loss during the summer when incoming freshmen Edie Wittenberg, Sienna Bostedo, and Karly Wetherell passed away in an accident.
The team has played for their “guardian angels” all year, wearing “EKS” on their jerseys and shouting it out of timeouts before taking the floor.
“We just had an unimaginable start to our season,” Schlechte said. “We had so many people rooting for us to end the season at the state tournament. I think we had a lot of love and support from outside communities. I had a lot of texts and messages from people rooting for us.
“Cissna Park has a really strong team. I wish we could have persevered.”
Schlechte brought Edie and Ellie’s mother, Courtney, to the team this year as an assistant.
“We started the season off in June and that’s when she started helping. We worked so well together,” Schlechte said. “Then, after the accident, things had been really rough, but she just kept coming back for more and working so hard. She shows so much strength to be able to come to practice each day and come to the games.
“She brings so much to the team.”