A.J. Sellett Gymnasium was nearly full.

The student section was decked out in green, holding up big photos of the La Salle-Peru players and cheering loudly with every point.

“It was definitely great to come back to play on our home court with all of our fans and super fans too,” L-P senior Anna Riva said. “We had a big crowd, which got our energy up and was really exciting.”

The Cavaliers had the energy from the start as they earned the opportunity to play one more home match by defeating Morris 25-22, 25-18 in the rubber match between the teams in a Class 3A La Salle-Peru Sectional semifinal Tuesday.

“It’s really exciting,” Riva said. “I think our team really worked for this, especially after Morris defeating us the second time we played. I think we came back for revenge and really worked hard for it.”

L-P (32-5) will play in a sectional final for the first time since 2019 when the Cavs play Washington (22-14) at 6 p.m. Thursday.

The Panthers advanced with a 25-12, 25-13 victory over Sycamore in Tuesday’s second semifinal.

“They first two times they played (2024 3A runner-up) Limestone they took them to three sets and then beat them in the regional final, so obviously they are a very talented team,” L-P coach Mark Haberkorn said. “They have a left front, No. 9 (Carly Dawson) who is a junior going to (the University of) Iowa and they have a left-hander on the right side.

“It’s going to be an exciting match. We’re in the Sweet 16. There’s no such thing as an easy match. We know it will be a big challenge.”

The Cavs started strong Tuesday as Riva served four points for a 5-1 lead. L-P pushed it to 9-2, which led to Morris calling timeout.

“Communication and coming out aggressive,” Riva said about the keys to the strong start.

L-P maintained a lead and Morris called its second timeout after an Emma Jereb ace made it 17-10.

Out of the break, Lily Hansen put down a kill and Morris began to creep back into the set. L-P called timeout when Morris pulled within 23-20 and again when back-to-back kills by Tessa Shannon made it 23-22.

However, Riva had a kill and Aubrey Urbanski ended the first set with a dump.

“We didn’t get off to the best start,” Morris coach Scott Howell said. “We’ve done that a couple times this year where we put ourselves in a hole and we had to fight back, so it’s not something we haven’t done. I think everybody’s seen the fight out of these girls and we put ourselves in a position to claw back and give ourselves a chance to win the first set.”

The second set was tight early and Morris briefly led 7-6, 8-6 and 8-7 before L-P tied it at 8 and took the lead for good at 12-11 on a back row kill by Aubrey Duttlinger.

Riva served four points in a row to push the lead to 16-11 and the Cavs led by at least four points the rest of the way before Riva ended it with a kill.

“When you keep digging yourself these holes, it’s hard, especially when you get to this level,” Howell said. “Give L-P credit, they’re a great team and played consistent. Anytime we were able to go on a little run, they were right there to put a ball down and put us in a bad spot again.”

Riva finished with 13 points to lead a strong L-P serving attack, while Kelsey Frederick had 10 points and Karmen Piano served eight.

“We served aggressive and we kept them out of the offense and out of any type of different action they wanted to run in the front row with their middles or right side,” Haberkorn said. “We kind of forced them into left front hitting option only and we were able to read and dig.”

Duttlinger led the L-P offense with 10 kills with Frederick putting down six and Riva adding four. Jereb had 11 assists and Urbanski finished with seven. Drew Depenbrock had three blocks and Maggie Boudreau contributed two.

“Offensively, I thought we were solid but we need to be a little more aggressive,” Haberkorn said. “We had good balance.”

Defensively, Riva had 15 digs, while Piano had 10 and Duttlinger had six.

“I thought defensively we were really sharp,” Haberkorn said. “We were very quick and we seemed to read real well.”

Morris finished 30-7, which set a school record for wins, and won the program’s first regional title since 2015.

“It was a great season,” Howell said. “The bond these girls had all season has been amazing. It’s definitely one of the best teams I’ve coached. They set a school record with 30 wins and won a regional title, which hasn’t been done in 10 years, so it’s been a fun season.”

ExpandAutoplay

Image 1 of 18

Members of the L-P volleyball team react after winning the opening set against Morris during the Class 3A Sectional semifinal game on Tuesday, Nov. 4, 2025 in Sellett Gymnasium at L-P High School. (Scott Anderson)