Volleyball: Ottawa ends record season with sectional semifinal loss to Metamora

GALESBURG – Playing in its first sectional in about three decades, the Ottawa volleyball team got overwhelmed by a hard-hitting, seasoned Metamora squad in the first set.

The Pirates played better in the second set, but ultimately had their season end 25-12, 25-19 on Monday in a Class 3A Galesburg Sectional semifinal.

“We got off to a slow start there, obviously, in the first set,” Ottawa coach Jenn Crum said. “Metamora came in ready to roll, and I think it took us a little bit to get it together. We battled back a little bit, but that’s a good team. I think you play tough against the teams that are good and the outcome is the outcome.”

The Redbirds came out swinging, jumping out to a 7-1 lead before Crum took her first timeout with the Pirates trailing 9-2.

Metamora continued to extend the lead with hard swings, pushing its advantage to 17-4 before Crum called her second timeout.

The Redbirds extended their lead to as many as 16 points before Ottawa made a late run, scoring four of the final six points of the set.

“We had a tough first set, but I think we pulled together and fought a lot harder in the second one,” Ottawa senior Ryleigh Stevenson said. “I think we were just nervous [in the first set].”

In the second set, Metamora again started strong, taking a 8-2 lead.

But this time, the Pirates responded.

Kills by Stevenson and Alyssa Malmassari helped Ottawa pull within 10-5. Back-to-back Metamora errors pulled the Pirates within three at 11-8.

“Just to keep fighting and not hand it over to them and just keep doing what we need to do,” Stevenson said about what the Pirates discussed between sets. “We fought a lot harder and we were moving a lot quicker than the first set. We were hitting a lot harder. We started hitting instead of tipping.”

Ottawa stayed within six until a Pirate error, an ace by 8, back-to-back Ottawa errors and a kill by Izzy Vandeschraaf pushed Metamora’s lead to 19-9.

The Pirates had some fight left.

A kill by Stevenson, a lift on Metamora, back-to-back Redbird errors and an ace by Skylar Dorsey brought the Pirates back within five at 22-17.

Ottawa was within five once more at 23-18 on a kill by Olivia Evola before the Redbirds eventually ended the match on a kill by 8.

“They were really hammering us with serves,” Crum said. “We were struggling to get the ball up. In the second set, we started getting the ball up into play so at least our offense could do something. In that first set it was just trying to work through that serve-receive and it was tough.

“We talked about blocking a lot (between sets). We talked about trying to produce more on offense, trying to get touches on the swings so we put something back at them so instead of them doing most of the attacking, we could at least battle back.”

Stevenson led Ottawa with five kills, while Evola had seven assists and Reese Burgwald contributed 14 digs.

The Pirates finish 27-10-1, setting the school record for wins and claiming the program’s first regional title since 1995.

“We had a lot of accomplishments and beat a lot of records,” Stevenson said. “I think overall we had a really good season.

“It took a lot [to get the program to this point]. It took a lot of years. This is the first year it was really good and solid. It’s really hard to leave [the program]. We’ve become a lot closer through all the years playing with the same people from club and middle school.”

Stevenson said this season is “100%” a foundation for the future of the program, and Crum hopes the Pirates can build off the success as well.

“It was a great season,” Crum said. “We met a lot of goals. We beat some teams we’ve never beaten before and broke some records for the school. Overall, they did an excellent job.

“The future looks bright. We have some strong juniors who played this season who will be back next year. I think it’ll be good for us. These girls have worked hard since day one. They’ve put in the work in the offseason, doing everything they could to improve to bring this program to where it is today.”