Class 1A volleyball: Hot start, tough serving lead Newark past Earlville for Norsemen's fourth straight regional title

Norsemen advance to sectional after 25-10, 25-21 victory over Red Raiders

SHABBONA — With the crowd filling the gym with noise, Newark’s Kiara Wesseh took a couple steps forward and jumped before smacking a serve to the Earlville side of the net.

The strong serve forced the Red Raiders to send a freeball back. From there, Norsemen setter Lauren Ulrich pushed the ball to the left side of the net before standout hitter Megan Williams rocketed it untouched down the line for the night’s opening point.

It was a foreshadowing of much of Newark’s 25-10, 25-21 victory over Earlville during Thursday night’s IHSA Class 1A Indian Creek Regional championship match.

Wesseh served the Norsemen to a quick 8-0 lead in the opening set, while Williams posted 10 of her match-high 14 kills in the second set to help No. 2-seeded Newark (31-6) claim the program’s fourth straight regional title and 13th overall. No. 3-seeded Earlville, which had split the first two meetings this season with Newark, finishes 26-11.

Newark advances to the Serena Sectional, where it’s scheduled to play Pearl City at 6:30 p.m. in the second of two semifinals Monday night.

“We’ve actually been struggling from the service line, but we served very, very well tonight, probably the best match so far this season, and I feel that took Earlville out of their offense. Having Kiara (Wesseh) run off the first eight points of the first set seemed to really ease us into the match, and that was a huge key to get off to that great start.”

—  Newark assistant volleyball coach P.J. McKinney

“We’ve talked about all week that we just needed to worry about our side of the floor and be efficient in what we are doing,” said Newark assistant coach P.J. McKinney, subbing for head coach Tonya Grayson, who is out due to shoulder surgery. “We’ve actually been struggling from the service line, but we served very, very well tonight, probably the best match so far this season, and I feel that took Earlville out of their offense. Having Kiara run off the first eight points of the first set seemed to really ease us into the match, and that was a huge key to get off to that great start.”

Earlville cut the lead in half behind two kills by Navaeh Sansone and an ace by Emma Benson. But Newark reeled off 11 of the next 13 points to lead 19-6 and used back-to-back winning swings by Wesseh and Williams to close out the set.

“Kiara’s start was huge for our momentum tonight ... she just came out and killed it,” said Williams. “I felt her serving really set the tone, and I felt like all of us feed off of that. I’ve been lucky to be part of some really great teams here at Newark, but with this being my senior season, I think this is the best feeling I’ve ever had.”

“Our serve-receive in the first set was a struggle for sure, and really throughout the match to be honest,” Earlville coach Tonya Scherer said. “There was only a handful of times where we were able to truly get into our offense tonight, and in any match, especially a regional championship match, things aren’t going to go well when that happens.

“We were just never able to get into any kind of rhythm or gain any momentum for an extended period of time.”

In set two, the teams were tied 8-8 before a five-point spurt by Ulrich, which included two aces, two kills from Williams and another by Kellie Snyder (two blocks), made it 14-8. Earlville would then tally 13 of the next 15 points, with four-point runs by Brooklyn Guelde and Alexis Olson which included a pair of kills each by Brynn Guelde and Sansone, to hold a 19-16 advantage.

“We knew this was going to be a tough match, because we’d played them twice and had split with them,” said senior KJ Friestad, who finished with nine service points, an ace and a pair of kills. “We came out with so much energy, and that was a big key in the first set, I think. The second set was a tough one, but I think we thought that would be the case. This team plays with a lot of confidence all the time, so even when we were down late in the second set, I feel we all felt we’d find a way to win.”

However, Newark would score nine of the final 11 points — three coming on Williams’ kills, including match point — to close out the match.

Ulrich finished with 21 assists and five aces, while Wesseh registered 12 points and Williams 10.

Sansone led Earlville with five kills and a block, Brynn Guelde had four kills, Brooklyn Guelde five points and two aces, and Benson 12 assists, four points and two aces.