Girls volleyball: Montini falls to Rockford Lutheran
GENOA - After jumping out to a 7-0 lead in the first set of the Class 2A Genoa-Kingston sectional championship match Wednesday night, Montini successfully repelled a Rockford Lutheran rally to win the game 25-17.
However, the Broncos couldn't hold off the Crusaders in the next two sets.
Rockford Lutheran came from behind to take the two sets 25-19 and 25-23 to win the match and the first sectional title in the school's history.
"You've got to give it to them. They didn't back down," Montini coach Steve Dowjotas said. "We had leads in all three games, they just kept coming at us."
Rockford Lutheran advanced to the Johnsburg supersectional where it will play Timothy Christian, winner of the IC Catholic Prep sectional.
After spotting Montini the 7-0 lead, Rockford Lutheran (33-5) rallied and pulled within six points twice, 15-9 on a Lauren Spangler strike and 20-14 on another Spangler smash. The junior had a match-high 15 kills. A Paige Pickering strike made the score 21-20 and started a 4-0 Broncos run to put the team at set point.
Rockford Lutheran coach Jordan Haverly attributed her team's slow start in the first set to jitters.
"I just think it was a lot of nerves," Haverly said. "A lot of nerves and excitement. The school has never made it this far."
Montini (27-11) jumped out to 4-0 lead in the second game before Rockford Lutheran got on track. The Crusaders tied it at 8 on an ace. The middle of the set featured nine ties and three lead changes. The game was knotted at 18-18 when the Crusaders went on a 7-1 run to close it out.
"They stayed aggressive the entire time. They kept hitting the ball, taking swings every time they got a set," Dowjotas said. "They put a lot of pressure on us offensively."
"In the first set we had a lot of energy and it really showed," Montini's Madalyn Kasallis said. "The second set, we just kind of fell apart at the end, but if we had just a little more energy it would have come together."
Montini led in the third set until a Broncos hitting error tied the game at 18. Rockford Lutheran took the lead for good 20-19 on a strike by Kylie Wilhelmi. The Broncos pulled within 24-23 on a Crusaders error, but Spangler's final kill of the match secured the win for Rockford Lutheran.
"We finally just decide to lay it all out on the line," Haverly said. "We got to this point, we're the underdog in this situation, let just give it a 110% and see what happens."
Julie Marciniak notched 8 kills and 5 digs for the Broncos Classmate Tess Noonan earned 26 assists and 5 digs. Kasallis had 6 kills.
Katie Angel led Rockford Christian's defense with 21 digs while teammate Julia Nystrom tallied 30 assists.