Area Roundup: Ottawa, Streator, Seneca, Fieldcrest volleyball see seasons come to a close

At the Class 3A Sterling Girls Volleyball Regional on Tuesday, the Ottawa Pirates and La Salle-Peru Cavaliers saw their seasons end with losses to their higher-seeded former conference foes.

Ottawa lost, 25-13, 25-17, to Geneseo. The Pirates finish their season with a record of 9-24-1. Geneseo advances to face Sterling in Thursday’s championship match.

The hosts defeated La Salle-Peru, 25-13, 25-23, in Tuesday’s late semifinal.

Metamora def. Streator, 25-6, 25-10: At Pops Dale Gymnasium, in the semifinals of the Streator Class 3A Regional, Streator coach Julie Gabehart had a simple request as her four-win Bulldog Spikers, seeded last in their half of the sectional, prepared to take their home court against 32-win, top-seeded Metamora: Have fun out there.

And for the most part the Bulldog Spikers seemed to Tuesday evening despite a season-ending loss to the state-hopeful Redbirds in straight sets.

“We knew we were up against Goliath tonight,” Gabehart said, “so I just told them to have fun and play hard from Point 1 to Point 25. That’s what we were trying to do, and I think they did that.”

Hannah Rambo with two stuff blocks, Ellie Isermann with two assists and Mallory Goerne with three digs were the night’s statistical leaders for Streator (4-26).

“The overall record wasn’t what we wanted, but after losing so many close matches they continued to battle night in and night out,” Gabehart said. “I was really proud of them for that, and I think that will pay off for us down the road with us starting three sophomores on the floor tonight.”

— Visit mywebtimes.com for J.T. Pedelty’s full report from this match.

Prairie Central def. Seneca 25-12, 25-15: In the Class 2A Coal City Regional semifinals, top-seeded Seneca (22-12) was upset in straight sets to see its season halted.

“This wasn’t our best match tonight,” Seneca coach Noah Champene said. “It wasn’t a lack of effort or energy on our part. The girls wanted to win, but sometimes that just doesn’t happen. Sometimes you run into a team that plays better than you do. Hats off to Prairie Central. They played a great match, and we played a poor one.”

Emma Smith led Seneca with five kills, while Zoe Hougas had three and Teagan Johnson and Sophie Cato each had two.

— Visit mywebtimes.com for Rob Oesterle’s full report from this match.

Tri-Valley def. Fieldcrest 18-25, 25-19, 27-25: In the quarterfinals of the Class 2A Eureka Regional, the sub-sectional’s No. 7 seed, Fieldcrest, won the opening set and nearly upset No. 3 Tri-Valley before falling in extra points of the rubber set to see its season come to a close with a record of 26-6.

Bella Fortner tallied nine assists, Carolyn Megow six digs, Kaya Buchanan two stuff blocks and Allie Wiesenhofer seven kills to spearhead the Knights attack.

Earlville def. Aurora Christian 25-18, 25-12: In the quarterfinals of the Class 1A Indian Creek Regional, the Red Raiders punched their ticket for the semifinals with the victory, led by six kills apiece from Brynn Guelde and Nevaeh Sansone, 15 assists and four aces from Emma Benson and seven digs courtesy of Hailey Kuter.

No. 3 Earlville faces the sixth-seeded regional hosts Wednesday in the second semifinal, starting after the 5:30 p.m. Newark-Somonauk semifinal.

Flanagan-Cornell def. Lowpoint-Washburn 25-14, 25-14: In the quarterfinals of the Class 1A Princeville Regional, the eighth-seeded Falcons earned their way to Wednesday’s 6:30 p.m. semifinal against No. 4 Peoria Christian.