Girls volleyball: Ryleigh Stevenson’s hot hand leads Ottawa past Streator for 3A regional championship

STREATOR – Ottawa senior Ryleigh Stevenson had the hot hand in the latter stages of the second set during Thursday’s Class 3A Streator Regional championship match against the host Bulldog Spikers.

Stevenson smacked down a pair of kills to keep the match from going to a third set, then collected a winning swing ahead of a Streator lift to help give the No. 2-seeded Pirates a 25-23, 28-26 victory over the No. 5-seeded Spikers and their first regional title since 1995.

“It was a lot of pressure, but I felt like I was really in a zone and wanted the ball every time,” said Stevenson, who finished with a match-high eight kills, 10 service points and three aces along with eight digs. “I knew what I needed to do and just tried to put the ball in an open space. [Setters] Olivia [Evola] and Skylar [Dorsey] did a great job all match of putting the ball right where I like it.

“I feel like we as a team really shined tonight. Everyone just did their job, and when we do that, I feel like we are tough to beat.”

“We’ve talked about being resilient all season, and we were as resilient as we have ever been this year in that situation. We put ourselves in a bad spot there with three or four bad points in a row, but the girls just moved on and were able to bounce back in a big way.”

—  Jenn Crum, Ottawa volleyball coach

Ottawa (26-9-1) will face Metamora (30-5) at 7 p.m. Monday in the semifinals of the Galesburg Sectional.

Streator, which also was looking for a first postseason title since 1995, ends the season 23-10-2, tying the 1981 squad for the most victories in a season.

In the opening back-and-forth set, Ottawa used a four-point spurt, including a pair of aces by Stevenson to push to a 16-12 lead. Streator closed to within 23-22, but a hitting error and kill by the Pirates’ Addison Duggan closed things out.

In the second set, the Bulldogs used a sideout block by Alexa Jacobs, then a six-point run by Kora Lane that featured two aces, a kill by Sonia Proksa and three Ottawa errors to lead 22-18.

“I wasn’t too OK when we were down 22-18 in the second set, but I’m OK now,” Ottawa coach Jenn Crum said. “We’ve talked about being resilient all season, and we were as resilient as we have ever been this year in that situation. We put ourselves in a bad spot there with three or four bad points in a row, but the girls just moved on and were able to bounce back in a big way.

“I couldn’t be more proud or happier for them to reach this goal they set for themselves.”

Ottawa climbed back even after a double block from Chey Joachim and Duggan, two kills by the latter and a Streator hitting error. The teams then traded points until a Stevenson kill and Evola ace put the Pirates up 26-25. A service error tied the set before the aforementioned Stevenson kill and Streator error.

“This was the battle we expected it to be,” Streator coach Julie Gabehart said. “I told the girls yesterday at practice and again before the match that this was going to be a very close, high-intensity, point-for-point match. I also told them if they played like they did Tuesday against Sterling, win or lose, I’d have no complaints.

“My girls fought, they stuck together, and they picked each other up, but in the end, Ottawa made a couple more plays than we did. It was two very evenly matched teams tonight. Ottawa played a great match, and I hope they continue to do well next week.”

Duggan had five kills, with Ayla Dorsey and Alyssa Malmassari four each for Ottawa. Joachim had two kills, three blocks and 15 digs, Reese Burgwald 14 digs, Haley Waddell 11 digs. Skylar Dorsey passed for 13 assists and Evola for 12.

Streator was led by seven kills from Proksa, five from Sophia Pence and three from Devin Elias. Shaelyn Groesbeck and Kora Lane each had a pair of aces, while Emma Rambo had 17 assists.

“We all knew it had been awhile since the last volleyball regional championship,” Joachim said. “We just wanted to give it everything we had and break the streak. I can’t even tell how happy I am that we did it.”