Girls volleyball: IC Catholic Prep dominates 2A state semifinal

NORMAL - IC Catholic Prep's journey toward the Class 2A volleyball state championship match took some sharp and dramatic turns in the playoffs.

The Knights avenged last season's state championship defeat to Genoa-Kingston in two sets, then defeated rival Timothy Christian in a two-set thriller in a sectional final and reached their second straight state semifinal with two-set rout over Chicago Latin in the supersectional round.

"Definitely, I would say our sectional was one of the toughest sectionals in the whole state, playing against Genoa-Kingston and Timothy Christian was a battle," IC Catholic senior Ava Falduto said. "We knew we were still very far from our goal of winning this (state) tournament ... We played some amazing teams early in the playoffs."

The tough road to state, plus the motivation to atone for last season's state-title match disappointment, made for an anticlimactic experience for the Knights on Friday afternoon against Carmi at CEFCU Arena.

The Knights (36-3) relied on their veteran leadership to roll over Carmi in a 25-5, 25-16 victory to advance to the state championship match.

IC Catholic seeks its fourth state title on Saturday at 1:55 p.m. against the winner between Breese Mater Dei and Rock Falls. Once Carmi made a hitting error to seal the two-set victory, the Knights chose a casual celebration near the net.

The Knights were satisfied with a workmanlike effort but had plans for a bigger celebration on Saturday afternoon.

"Today's game was very fun and the team we played was very competitive, but last year we came into (the semifinal) all very nervous," IC Catholic senior libero Alyssa Lawton said. "It was a new experience for all of us, just getting on the court and then having a three-set thriller. It was very energetic and exciting. This year just having that (state) experience was a lot better. We weren't overwhelmed by the atmosphere. We wanted to set the tone early."

The Knights needed just 36 minutes to knock off the Lady Bulldogs (33-8), jumping out to leads of 6-1 and 16-3 in the first set. Falduto, a Penn State recruit, led the Knights with nine kills, Emily Carling added eight kills and Lucy Russ finished with seven kills and 22 assists.

"This has been our entire goal since we walked out of Redbird (Arena) last year," IC Catholic coach Nancy Kerrigan said. "It's a testament to all these girls who have committed to a plan to get us back here and they did the work behind the plan. We built all season long to this point, and now we're at our place where we need to push through."

Carling, a junior outside hitter, said the tough playoff road helped the Knights in Friday's match.

"It helped set the tone for us getting here," Carling said.