Feisty Dundee-Crown bows out to Hononegah
The Dundee-Crown girls volleyball team's improbable postseason run had just ended, yet the Chargers couldn't mask proud smiles as they broke their postgame huddle for the final time.
After winning only five matches during the regular season, Dundee-Crown last week took advantage of a wide-open regional to win three straight matches and earn its first regional title since 1996.
The Chargers followed up Tuesday by giving Hononegah all it could handle before they bowed out to the NIC-10 Conference co-champs, 25-21, 25-20, in a Class 4A Jacobs sectional semifinal.
“Honesty, this team is incredible,” D-C senior Tanna Svec said as she gathered her equipment after the match. “Obviously, you know how our season went. We lost a lot of games. But it never got us down. Getting that regional for some of us was amazing.
“It doesn't matter if we won or lost tonight. We'll have that regional for the rest of our lives.”
The Chargers (8-31) held substantial leads in each game but were unable to hold off runs by Hononegah (24-10) due to an inconsistent offense and spotty blocking.
“If we'd had any kind of offense and we'd blocked better, I think we would have had a chance,” Chargers coach Tracy Williams said.
Dundee-Crown jumped to a 6-2 lead in the opener, thanks to a kill by Lauren Mosher and a bevy of errors by the Indians.
D-C junior Alexa Shemanske sent a well-placed spike to the back, left corner of the court to keep the Chargers ahead, 12-10, but the Indians forged the first of six ties at on an ace by junior Taryn Gille to knot the score at 12-12.
Still tied at 21, Hononegah ran off 4 straight points to take Game 1, highlighted by consecutive aces by junior setter Kelsey Johnson to close it out.
The Chargers broke on top in Game 2, thanks to an ace from senior Rebecca Wika, and held leads as large as 10-5 and 13-7.
Again, Hononegah rallied, this time for 8 straight points to take a 15-13 lead. Two kills by 6-foot-1 middle blocker Alivia Holman keyed the Indians' push.
Dundee-Crown rallied one last time to take a 17-16 lead when Svec won a jump ball at the net, but the Indians finished the match on a 9-3 run to complete the sweep.
Hononegah advances to face Cary-Grove (38-0) in the Jacobs sectional title match on Thursday at 7 p.m.
“We gave it our all,” said Shemanske. “I'm so proud of what we did and what we accomplished this year. I never even dreamed we would be here, so it's a real honor.”