It’s not much of a secret in the volleyball world that Providence senior Abbey Knight is a dominant force. After all, the Wright State commit had more than 400 kills entering Thursday’s Class 3A Kankakee Sectional title match against Lemont.

The Celtics, though, proved they are much more than a one-person show, beating Lemont 25-15, 25-18 to win their third straight sectional title.

Knight led the charge for Providence (33-6) with 14 kills, but she was joined by Cali Tierney with seven kills and Demi Carbone with six. Carbone added 15 assists, while Delaney Purtill had 16 for the Celtics, who will play the host school in Monday’s Washington Supersectional.

After falling the last two seasons in the supersectional, Providence has had two goals in mind all season - win the supersectional and advance to the state finals.

“All through the school day today, we were talking to each other and saying that we had to make this happen,” Knight said. “On the bus, we all had our headphones on, and when we got off the bus, we were pretty calm.

“Once the match started, though, we were so ready for it. We laid it all on the line, and everyone on the floor played great.”

The Celtics’ height and athleticism at the net proved to be the difference. Providence was able to put 6-footers such as Knight, Tierney, Grace Lustig, Kennedy Kotowski and Lily Lipke in the front row all night and force Lemont to try and hit around them. The Celtics’ defense, led by libero Maddie Johnson, brought up nearly everything Lemont threw at them, and the serving was aggressive and kept Lemont (25-13) on its heels.

It was apparent early on that Providence was on its game. The first set was tied at 3 early before Providence went on a 9-0 run, getting four kills from Knight, three from Carbone and a block by Lustig. After a kill by Lemont’s Marta Pranskunas, Knight and Tierney each had a kill to give Providence a 14-4 lead. They went up 18-7 on an ace by Tierney before Lemont went on a 6-0 run to pull to within 18-13. Providence outscored Lemont 7-2 the rest of the way, claiming the set on a kill by Carbone.

“We have four four-year starters,” Providence coach Lee Rucinski said. “They know the end of their high school career is coming soon, so they want to leave everything they have on the floor.

“Tonight was some of the best volleyball we have played. We went to a tournament at Bartonville-Limestone where we played Chatham Glenwood, Mahomet-Seymour and LaSalle-Peru, which are all top 10 teams in 3A. We went 2-1 against those teams and have been playing very well since then.”

Lemont was able to keep it closer in the second set. They had their only lead of the night at 2-1, and were able to stay within four points, pulling to within 20-17 before Providence went on a 5-1 run to end the match. Kaitlyn Wilson and Madeline Maloney each had five kills to lead Lemont.

“Our girls never quit,” Lemont coach Chris Zogata said. “They went out there and played hard. Providence has some very good athletes that have good size, and it’s tough to compete with that.

“Overall, we had a great season. We won 25 games and a regional title. We give the girls high expectations, and they played to them. We had great kids, and I couldn’t have asked for anything more out of them.”

It was the team’s balance that impressed Rucinski.

“This shows that we are more than just Abbey Knight,” he said. “She’s great, and she has more than 400 kills this year. But we have four other players that have at least 100 kills. I don’t know of too many teams that have five players with more than 100 kills. We had a balanced offense, our two setters did a great job, our sophomore middle (Lipke) and sophomore right-side (Kotowski) played great, and our libero [Johnson] was all over the floor tonight. With all of those players on the floor, it’s hard for another team to take a breath.

“These girls feed off of each other, and that’s great to see. We talked before the season that we wanted a stronger bond, and we have that. The girls are playing for each other and not just themselves. They are excited when anyone does well.”