Volleyball: Ottawa, Streator to meet for Class 3A regional title Thursday at Pops

STREATOR – There is nothing better than a battle between old rivals for a chance at a championship.

That will be the case at 6 p.m. Thursday at Pops Dale Gymnasium when the Streator and Ottawa girls volleyball teams play for the title of the Class 3A Streator Regional.

The matchup was set up Tuesday night when the No. 2-seeded Pirates defeated No. 8 seed Pontiac 25-19, 25-17 in the opening match, while the No. 5-seeded Bulldogs knocked off No. 3 seed Sterling 25-20, 25-19.

The last regional volleyball titles for Streator and Ottawa were Class AA championships in 1995.

Ottawa 2, Pontiac 0

Ottawa (26-9-1) shook off a slow start in the opening set with a burst midway through scoring eight of 10 points to lead 18-11. A pair of kills each from Ryleigh Stevenson and Chey Joachim, plus a block by Ayla Dorsey helped close out the set.

“It wasn’t a spectacular showing by us by any means, but it’s a win that allows us to play for a regional title on Thursday.”

—  Jenn Crum, Ottawa volleyball coach

The Pirates exploded out of the gates in the second set, grabbing leads of 7-0, 11-1 and 14-4. Olivia Evola served a pair of aces in the opening burst and set up kills from Alyssa Malmassari and Joachim to help extend the advantage to 21-14. A kill from Addison Duggan preceded two straight from Evola to finish off the match.

Evola finished with seven kills, 13 assists, eight points and three digs. Joachim had six kills and six points, Stevenson five kills, Malmassari three kills, Ayla Dorsey two blocks, Skylar Dorsey nine assists, and Reese Brugwald seven digs.

“We started the first set playing very nervous,” Ottawa coach Jenn Crum said. “We finally were able to shake those nerves midway through and started playing with more energy and rhythm. The second set started almost the opposite of the first. We were able to build a pretty good lead and then kept Pontiac out of striking distance. It wasn’t a spectacular showing by us by any means, but it’s a win that allows us to play for a regional title on Thursday.

“Olivia had a very solid all-around match. I found myself marking by her name in almost every positive stat on my stat sheet. I felt like she really picked us up, really took control with her play to get things back on track in the first set and then just lead by example from there. She did a tremendous job of spreading the ball around to all the hitters and mixing things to keep Pontiac guessing.”

Streator 2, Sterling 0

Streator (23-9-2) jumped out to leads of 13-5 and 17-8 in the opening set with Sophia Pence leading the way with three winning swings and a pair of blocks. The Bulldogs finished off the set with consecutive kills by Mya Zavada, Devin Elias and Sonia Proksa.

“To be honest, tonight was truly a team effort and win. Everyone played very well and did all of the things it takes to win. We were really firing on all cylinders right for the start.”

—  Julie Gabehart, Streator volleyball coach

Sterling (21-14-1) bounced back from an early deficit in the second set to tie the score at 8-all after back-to-back aces from Maggie Rowzee, but the hosts then scored nine of the next 11 points to take control.

Streator was led by Proksa’s five kills and three blocks, while Pence (six digs) and Elias each had six kills. The Bulldogs also received solid matches from Alexa Jacobs (four kills, one block), Zavada (two kills, two blocks), Emma Rambo (22 assists) and Rilee Talty (16 digs).

“That’s the beauty of this team, we don’t have just one or two really good players, we have a team full of good players,” Streator coach Julie Gabehart said. “Like it has been all season, on any given night any of the girls can put together a really good night. To be honest, tonight was truly a team effort and win. Everyone played very well and did all of the things it takes to win. We were really firing on all cylinders right from the start.

“I felt like we were able to really keep the momentum throughout. Almost the entire match, when Sterling would score a couple points in a row, we were able to get a side out and stop them from getting on any kind of run.”

The Golden Warriors were paced by Carley Sullivan’s five kills, with Olivia Melcher (six digs), Kirra Gibson and Delali Amankwa (four digs, 10 assists) each adding three kills.

“We just weren’t able to ever settle in and run a consistent offense tonight,” Sterling coach Dale Dykeman said. “We had 28 hitting errors, and that’s not good enough to beat anyone on any night let alone a solid team like Streator in a regional semifinal. Some those errors were due to a good block put up by Streator, and the others were just us not hitting well or smartly. Us not being consistent was the biggest key to the match. We had a few times we’d build a little momentum, look like we were going to rally, but then we’ve had an error that would set us back.

“This has been a great group of kids this season. They just had an off night. It happens.”