Volleyball Notebook: Newman clinches TRAC East title with win over Princeton

The Three Rivers East volleyball championship came down to the final night with Sterling Newman defeating Princeton 25-20, 18-25, 25-17 to claim the crown Tuesday night in Sterling.

With the win, the Comets (24-4-2) ran the table in league play at 12-0 with the Tigresses (27-6-2) settling for second at 10-2.

“Super proud of my kids,” Princeton coach Andy Puck said. “Newman just outhustled us, outplayed us, outexecuted us in the first set. In the second set, we got down to fundamentals, got them out of system; serving high kind of took them out of their rhythm. The third set, we came out hot, and honestly, we took our foot off the gas.

“We got a little intimidated, and some kids took some plays off — and if you take plays off against good teams, you’re playing from behind, and that’s never a good recipe for success.”

Senior setter Katie Bates had 25 assists, 15 digs and nine points for PHS (27-6) with Abby Peterson adding 32 digs and eight points and Mckenzie Hecht seven kills, five digs and 1 1/2 blocks.

Three of Princeton’s six losses this year have come at the hands of Newman, both in league play and another in tournament play.

• Sherrard wins TRAC West title: The TRAC West championship was also decided Tuesday night when host Sherrard defeated Monmouth-Roseville 2-1. The Tigers finished atop the league at 11 with Mon-Rose (9-3) taking third behind Rockridge (10-2).

Regional pairings set

At Bureau Valley (2A): Princeton will take the No. 1 sub-sectional seed into the Bureau Valley 2A Regional which starts next week. The Tigresses will draw the winner of the Monday, Oct. 25, quarterfinal match between No. 6 Hall (8-23) and No. 9 Farmington (3-18) in semifinal play at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 26.

The second match of the night on Oct. 25 pits No. 5 Bureau Valley (11-18) vs. No. 11 Manito West Central (0-23). Their winner will face No. 4 Knoxville (17-15) in the second semifinal match on Oct. 26.

The Bureau Valley regional champion advances to the Knoxville Sectional to play the winner from Sherrard at 6:30 p.m. on Monday, Nov. 1. No. 2 Macomb (29-5) and No. 3 Sherrard (30-4) are the top seeds at Sherrard.

At Henry (1A): No. 10 St. Bede (8-16-1) will open regional play at Henry at 5:30 p.m. on Oct. 26. Their winner will face the winner of the night’s second quarterfinal between No. 5 Henry (18-9) and No. 9 Putnam County (12-14-2) in semifinal play on Oct. 27. Yorkville Christian (27-5) is the No. 1 sub-sectional seed.

The Henry regional champion advances to the Serena Sectional on Nov. 1 to play the winner from the Lanark Eastland Regional at 5:30 p.m. No. 2 Sterling Newman is the top seed at Eastland.

At Ashton (1A): No. 11 LaMoille (4-22) has a play-in game vs. No. 10 AFC at 6 p.m. on Oct. 25 with the winner to face No. 1 Pearl City (26-7-1) at 5:30 p.m. on Oct. 27. The Oct. 26 semifinals match No. 4 Annawan (21-7-3) vs. No. 14 Amboy (0-25-1) followed by No. 6 Polo (16-10-2) vs. No. 12 DePue (2-13).

The AFC Regional champion also advances to the Serena Sectional to face the Indian Creek champion on Nov. 1.