Stewardson Trinity Takes Third in Tournament

Stewardson Trinity Cardinals captured third place in teh Annual Christ Lutheran School Peoria Volleyball Tournament where 26 teams competed over three days. Trinity was first in pool play going 3-0 on Friday defeating St. John’s, Elgin (21-6, 21-7), St. Paul’s, Rochelle (21-13, 23-21), and Trinity, Davenport, IA
(21-12, 21-9).

On Saturday, the Cardinals beat St. John’s, Mattoon (21-17, 21-9) and Bethel, Morton (21-10, 21-14) to get to the Final Four. Trinity took their only loss of the weekend to Christ Community, Kirkwood, MO (21-15, 21-14). In the final match on Sunday, Trinity Cardinals defeated Immanuel, Belvidere 25-20, 25-19 to come home with the third plac plaque. Megan Schlechte and Jocelyn Schultz were two of 12 who made the All-Tournament Team. Eighth-grader Calla Roney was unable to play due to an ankle injury.

"I was very worried about going into the tournament without Calla and only having one main hitter but the girls adapted very well and made it work," said Coach Ronda Schlechte. "We had a pretty strong weekend with the exception of the Kirkwood game on Saturday evening. They were tired and did not move like they had the previous matches, which caused multiple errors. I will take one bad game out of seven any day.

"The girls all stepped up and covered their positions really well. They did a wonderful job of getting the passes to Megan, who did the bulk of our hitting. I’m excited to see what the rest of the season brings. We had two State Champions last year and only lost one eighth-grader so I think we should be able to compete nicely this year."

Total Tourney stats:

Megan Schlechte -- 32 pts, 15 aces, 101 kills, 35 digs, 7 assists, 4 blocks

Jocelyn Schultz -- 26 pts, 9 aces, 11 kills, 23 digs, 90 assists

Martina Gratz -- 35 pts, 7 aces, 4 kills, 18 digs, 8 assists

Claire Moomaw -- 40 pts, 8 aces, 5 kills, 7 digs, 5 assists

Rachel Kessler -- 13 pts, 1 ace, 8 digs, 5 assists

Anna Schlechte -- 19 pts, 7 aces, 9 kills, 15 digs, 14 assists

Mariah Caudill -- 13 pts, 6 aces, 1 dig, 1 assist