Richmond-Burton coach Inger Freund liked to call her team the “Comeback Queens.”

Opposing teams saw it all season.

The Rockets might find themselves down but they certainly were never out.

On Thursday, however, second-seeded R-B was unable to climb out of a first-set loss to top-seeded Rockford Christian, and the Rockets’ season ended just short of its first sectional title since 2012 with a 25-21, 25-23 defeat to the Royal Lions.

Rockford Christian (33-5) earned its first sectional title in team history and will meet top-seeded Trinity (24-14) in a Marengo Supersectional at 6 p.m. Monday.

R-B (31-8) was hoping to keep playing, but instead finished two wins shy of its first state appearance in 13 years when the Rockets took runner-up in Class 3A.

“I feel at the beginning of the season, I didn’t know this is where we would be,” said junior libero Lanee Cooley, who had six digs and an ace. “This is so much more than I expected. I’m honestly so proud of us, because it wasn’t easy to get here. We didn’t play a single easy team. We just made ourselves better and we made it look easy.

“I couldn’t be more grateful for this team.”

Richmond-Burton and Rockford Christian had met two times already this season. Thursday’s match was the only one that didn’t go three sets.

The Rockets looked on their way to forcing a third set following a 6-1 run in the second, receiving two kills apiece from juniors Reagan Wisniewski and Dani Hopp. Senior Daniella Mazzola then provided another kill to give R-B an 18-13 lead and force a timeout by Rockford Christian.

Out of the timeout, the Lions scored nine straight points as the Rockets were unable to solve the block of junior Teagan Lawver, who had three blocks – all three against Coastal Carolina commit Dani Hopp. Clemson commit Madison Anspaugh, a 6-foot-1 outside hitter, posted two of her match-high 15 kills during the run, also adding an ace.

“I called a timeout and we had the conversation of we have nothing to lose at this point,” Rockford Christian coach Bryanna Weiskircher-Moore said. “I told the girls this is what we’ve been building all year for, and this is the time to show what you have in the tank.”

Cooley admitted to feeling the pressure of a big match and loud crowd. R-B last played for a sectional title during its state run in 2012.

“I feel like we kind of broke, and we kind of let the crowd and everything get to us,” Cooley said. “I just feel like we kind of let them take over when we should have made it our game, not theirs.”

Freund, too, saw some doubt in her players.

“I saw the looks on their faces, and that’s when I kind of knew,” the Rockets’ first-year coach said. “There was just kind of this moment out there of this could be it.”

Hopp led the Rockets’ attack with five kills, also adding three digs and one block. Wisniewski (two aces), senior Sophia Komar and junior Zoe Freund smashed four kills apiece, and junior setter Josie Franckowiak had 15 assists.

Hopp, who had 17 kills in a 13-25, 25-20, 25-21 win against Montini on Tuesday, said the Rockets came a long way from the start of the season, which was filled with some uncertainty. R-B graduated its two top players in starting setter Alex Hopp, Dani’s sister, and powerful outside hitter Elissa Furlan.

This team was able to go one match further in the postseason.

“Obviously we didn’t have the outcome we wanted, but I feel this team has grown so much from the start to now – like we’re a totally different team," Dani Hopp said. “We have a lot of girls with a lot of talent. All the girls just played our hearts out. I’m just really happy with it. I’m so close to all these girls. I love playing with them all so much.“

The Rockets, which claimed its third straight Kishwaukee River Conference crown and are 96-17 since the start of 2023, graduate three seniors in Komar, Mazzola and Mattie Furzland.

Inger Freund said all three will be missed.

“It’s funny because two of the three are probably our shortest ones, but so much is packed in those little bodies,” Inger Freund said. “They’re full of explosiveness and power and energy. All the girls have so much talent. I feel blessed that I had the opportunity, and I got to do it with them.

“Everything we set out to do, we pretty much did.”

Wisniewski is confident in her team’s ability to make it further next year.

“This team is so close, we’re all like sisters,” she said. “Now we know what to do. You can’t take it for granted. We know the path and hopefully next year we do it.”