ICCP keeps hopes of state return alive

Claudia Koch, Kerry Mulligan and Tess Reardon are all that remains from IC Catholic Prep's 2013 Class 2A championship team. Koch and Mulligan, as seniors, would like to take the Knights back to Redbird Arena.

But they face a difficult task. IC Catholic has been bumped up to Class 3A this season, and the road to Normal is beset with minefields. One such obstacle is Rosary (22-14), which will be waiting for the Knights in the Lisle regional championship game at 6 p.m. Thursday.

IC Catholic (24-11) earned its way into the title game by defeating host Lisle 25-9, 20-25, 25-16 in a regional semifinal Tuesday. Koch led the Knights with 15 kills, Mulligan added 13 digs and an ace, and Reardon had 9 kills, 18 assists and 6 digs.

Koch was a starting middle hitter on IC Catholic's state championship team in 2013 and helped the Knights advance to the supersectional last year.

"Being a senior, I feel it's almost on me to bring my team there since leaders in the past have," Koch said. "It's a great team. I love the chemistry on this team. Maybe because I'm a senior I feel it's my job. But I do really like this team. I'd like to see us go far."

Lisle almost derailed the Knights, battling back from a licking in Game 1 to build an 18-11 lead and holding on to win Game 2.

"This is a hard gym for me to play in," Koch said. "This gym always gives me trouble. I think after beating them twice previously this season and winning the first game. it definitely got to our heads a little."

IC Catholic righted itself in Game 3, grabbing an early 6-2 lead then expanding the advantage to 19-11 courtesy of some Lisle miscues.

"We knew they were a pretty good team all around," first-year Lisle coach Kristen Oros said. "They're very strong at every position. It's hard to find a weak spot. We did our best in terms of trying to find those gaps on the floor, trying to work over the blocks and find those spaces."

"We started off the match pretty rough defensively. But we cleaned things up and did much better in the second game. I think the girls ultimately can walk out of here being proud of what they did in the second game and overall during the season."

Junior setter Hope Kiesling had 20 assists, junior outside hitter Nicolette Provenzano had 9 kills and senior middle Robyn Griffin added 3 blocks, 2 kills and an ace for Lisle (18-17).