The girls volleyball teams for Providence and Nazareth proved a lot to themselves just by meeting each other Friday afternoon.

After coming up just short of the Class 3A state semifinals last year with a second straight supersectional loss, the Celtics beat Washington in two sets on Monday to make it to Normal.

Likewise, the Roadrunners went just 3-31 last year before knocking off Fenwick to earn an improbable trip to state.

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Volleyball: Nazareth vs. Providence, Class 3A State semifinal Nazareth players celebrate as the Roadrunners secured a victory in two sets, 25-16, 25-17, over Providence in the IHSA Class 3A State semifinals on Friday, Nov. 14, 2025. (Tiffany Blanchette)

So either way, both teams had plenty to be proud of just by making the semis. Still, neither of them made the trip to CEFCU Arena to lose. They made it to play for the Class 3A title.

In a twist few could’ve seen coming entering the year, that team will be the Roadrunners.

After an insanely competitive start, Nazareth pulled away from the Celtics to close out the first set. The Roadrunners dominated set two and fought off an impressive rally attempt by Providence to win the match 25-16, 25-17.

Nazareth (21-18), after winning just three matches last year, is heading back to the state championship for the third time in five years. The Roadrunners will play Normal U-High for the 3A title.

“I don’t have words for how excited and how happy we are as a team and as a community,” first-year Nazareth coach Esai Velez said. “It’s something that we’ve been working for now for a long time. It’s just a great emotion and feeling we have right now.”

Velez’s loss of words makes sense.

Nazareth, after winning the program’s first state title in 2021 and taking second in 2022, went just 13-23 in 2023 before bottoming out last season.

Heck, the Roadrunners started out this year 0-5 before rallying, catching fire in the postseason.

It’s the kind of turnaround that movies are made of.

“I really just think it was our mentality (that changed),” Nazareth senior outside hitter Beth Surowiec said. “We hit rock bottom last season. We couldn’t go any further down. This season we just took everything we could and brought it right back up. We had a mentality that we were going to go to state and win so that’s what’s worked.”

The match itself was tight early with eight ties and three lead changes. With Providence leading 10-8, however, things completely flipped. Nazareth scored five consecutive points and outpaced the Celtics 17-6 the rest of the set.

The Roadrunners could do no wrong in the second set to start. After falling behind 3-2, they scored the next 11 points before a serving error snapped their streak. They built the lead up to 20-7 and were cruising to victory.

Providence, though, back at state for the first time in 30 years, didn’t go down without a fight.

The Celtics managed to power through with a 9-3 run, including five straight points, to cut the deficit to 23-16. Unfortunately, it was too late to save the set as they fell 25-17.

“We still had to enjoy every moment (despite the result),” Providence coach Lee Rucinski said. “This is the first time in 30 years Providence has been down here. It’s the first time in almost 40 years that we’ll get to bring home a trophy and just the second time in history. As much frustration as there was...it was never over and that gives us motivation for tomorrow.”

While Providence would rather be playing for the championship, the players themselves said their only focus now is on ending the season with a win.

“I love all these girls on the team,” Providence senior outside Cali Tierney said. “The goal was always state. This was not how we wanted to represent our team, but it’s not the end. Tomorrow we’re still going to go out, get third and end on a win. That’s the first thing we talked about in the locker room.”

Nazareth was led by Talia Surendran (six kills), Jane Manecke (six kills), Surowiec (five kills, 10 digs), Tess Tortorello (14 digs), Lexi Van Eekeren (10 assists, two aces, eight digs) and Madeline Briscoe (seven assists, 11 digs).

Providence’s top performers were Abbey Knight (five kills, six digs) and Cali Tierney (11 digs).

Providence will play Prairie Ridge in the third place game at 4 p.m. Saturday while Nazareth will play Normal-High for the state championship at 5:30 p.m.