St. Edward upsets No. 1 seed Winnebago
It's such an old song that St. Edward girls volleyball coach Jaime Dovichi has removed it from her playlist.
Once again, the Green Wave was sent west for regionals by the IHSA, and once again the other coaches in the Class 2A South Beloit regional failed to show St. Edward respect for the competition it plays in the Suburban Christian Conference, seeding the Wave fifth.
And once again, St. Edward showed why its record means little when it comes to the postseason.
The Green Wave, with injured senior setter Katie Ayello running the offense again, upset top seed Winnebago 28-26, 16-25, 25-18 in the regional semifinals and on Thursday St. Edward (20-13) will be after the 13th regional title in program history when it takes on No. 2 seed Rockford Lutheran. Lutheran downed Rockford Christian 25-23, 25-23 in Tuesday's second semifinal.
“It's the same thing every year. I don't even worry about it anymore,” said Dovichi of the low seed.
Ayello had 25 assists and 13 digs for the Wave, while Allison Kruk had 26 digs. Katie Swanson had 14 kills and 10 digs, Sarah Norman added 9 kills and 18 digs and Callie Johnson contributed 6 kills.
“We scouted (Winnebago) at the Huntley tournament and we knew who their good hitters were,” Dovichi said. “We were being careful on our rotations and we threw in a couple of twists that threw them off.”
Dovichi is confident her team can win the regional title and advance to next week's sectional at Winnebago.
“(Rockford Lutheran) is definitely not the caliber of Winnebago, and Winnebago beat Lutheran twice,” she said. “I think we'll match up real well with Lutherand I think we'll play real well.”
Class 1A at Harvest Christian: Elgin neighbors Harvest Christian and Westminster Christian will meet for the Class 1A regional title on Thursday after Harvest downed Hinckley-Big Rock 23-25, 25-14, 25-13 and Westminster dumped Alden-Hebron 25-9, 25-16 in Tuesday's semifinals.
Sydney Doby led Harvest with 16 kills, 12 digs and 2 blocks, while Erica Manusos had 8 kills, 13 digs and 2 aces and Sarah Kott added 6 kills and 3 blocks. Kali Cramer (2 kills, 1 ace, 11 digs, 9 assists), Jade Martinez (1 ace, 8 digs), Shayna Manusos (8 kills), Hannah Depledge (6 kills) and Katelyn Floyd (4 digs, 19 assists) also contributed for the Lions.
Elizabeth Farwell (17 assists, 4 digs), Whitney Vanden Bos (5 aces, 6 digs), Claire Spewiek (7 kills) and Cara Tyrell (4 digs, 3 kills) led Westminster (18-10) to its win.
Cary-Grove d. McHenry: Melanie Jereb had 7 kills and 7 digs and Meghan Seymour added 13 assists as Cary-Grove began its quest for a third straight trip downstate with an easy 25-12, 25-11 win over McHenry at the Class 4A Grant regional. The Trojans (32-4) will take on District 155 rival Prairie Ridge on Thursday for the regional title. PR defeated Crystal Lake South 21-25, 25-17, 25-19 Tuesday.
Class 3A at Sycamore: Burlington Central and Hampshire each saw their seasons come to an end Tuesday at the Class 3A Sycmaore regional. The Rockets lost a heartbreaker to the host Spartans 25-19, 22-25,29-27 and Hampshire fell to top-seeded Crystal Lake Central 25-6, 25-11.