EHS, St. Anthony Move Into Title Matches

Effingham and Effingham St. Anthony moved into the championship matches in regional volleyball play Tuesday evening.

Effingham, seeded third in the Class 3A Mattoon Regional, upset second-seeded Charleston. The Hearts won the opener 25-22 then came back and battled the Trojans to take a 25-20 second game for the match.

Charleston took a 14-13 second game lead but the Hearts went on a tear as Chandler Ramey knocked down two kills and Jennifer Fred had two aces. The Hearts moved ahead 17-14. The Trojans came back within two but Shelby Nunamaker had a kill and Katie Roberts nailed a kill to push the lead back to three.

The Trojans moved back within one at 21-20 but once again the Hearts put up a fight as Fred nailed a kill and Nunamaker was a wall at the net blocking two straight balls. An error by the Trojans ended the game as the Hearts went out at 25-20.

Totten led in assists with 18 while Ramey had 13 kills and 11 digs. Madelin Mitchell also had 11 digs. The Hearts improved to 23-13 on the season.

In the opening match, Mattoon downed Olney 25-17, 25-16. The top-seeded Green Wave are now 28-8 on the season and will face Effingham at 6 p.m. Thursday for the championship.

Mattoon Regional

Effingham -- Beals, 1 kill, 1 dig, 1 block; Mitchell, 3 assists, 11 digs; Roberts, 1 kill, 2 aces, 2 digs; Totten, 3 kills, 18 assists, 6 digs, 1 block; Nunamaker, 5 kills, 1 dig, 1 block; Fred, 1 kill, 1 assist, 3 aces, 9 digs; Ramey, 13 kills, 11 digs; Chrappa, 3 digs; Pike, 1 ace

At Marshall

Top-seeded Effingham St. Anthony moved on to the title match by downing Marshall, the No. 5 seed, in the Class 2A Marshall Regional, 25-17, 25-21.

The Bulldogs were led by Rachel Schultz with 13 digs while Jena Woltman had 24 assists. Logan Braunecker led in kils with seven. Andrea Doedtman had a block. Megan Nuxoll led in aces with two.

In the second match, second-seeded Kansas Co-op downed Cumberland 25-21, 25-15. Claire Guyon led the Pirates in digs with nine. Jade Hutchcraft had six kills.

Marshall Regional

St. Anthony -- Esker, 3 digs, 5 kills; Doedtman, 3 digs, 6 kills, 1 block, 1 ace; Wortman, 4 digs, 1 ace; Moore, 5 digs, 1 kill, 1 ace; Woltman, 4 digs, 24 assists, 3 kills, 1 ace; Braunecker, 1 dig, 7 kills; Nuxoll, 10 digs, 4 kills, 2 aces; Schultz, 13 digs, 1 ace; Rinker, 1 dig; Dammerman, 9 digs

Cumberland -- Hutchcraft, 6 kills, 1 block, 3 digs; Ja. McMechan, 2 kills, 5 assists, 6 digs; Jackson, 2 kills, 1 block, 6 assists, 6 digs; Guyon, 1 kill, 1 assist, 9 digs; Brumleve, 1 kill, 1 dig; Sowers, 1 kill, 1 dig; Paul, 1 ace, 3 digs; Je. McMechan, 5 digs

At Neoga

In the Class 1A Neoga Regional, Stewardson-Strasburg and Windsor will meet for the championship after picking up victories Tuesday evening.

Stew-Stras handed host Neoga a loss. The Indians won the opener 25-23 but Stew-Stras came back with 25-21, 25-21 scores to win the match. The Comets were led by Kendall Knop with 19 kills and 14 digs. Becca  Schlechte had 11 assists and 21 digs. She had three block assists. Courtney Probst had two aces.

"We started off pretty rough tonight, making all kinds of errors but the girls kept their heads on and were able to fight back," said Stew-Stras Coach Ronda  Schlechte. "I'm sure nerves played a big part but we just didn't play like ourselves. You could tell Neoga wanted the win so much as us. It was a continous fight and they didn't back down. Hopefully we will be settled for Thursday."

Windsor picked up a victory over Arcola 25-23, 25-13. Paige Woolard led the Blue Devils in kills with eight and had two blocks. Autumn Bennett led in digs with six. Claire Pfeiffer had nine assists. The Blue Devils are now 23-7 on the season.

Windsor will meet Stew-Stras for the regional title at 6 p.m. Thursday.

Neoga was led by Taylor Gresens with 11 kills. Maddie Easton had 24 assists. Nikki Miah had 13 digs.

At Neoga

Stew-Stras -- Knop, 19 kills, 8 assists, 14 digs, 1 block assist; Schlechte, 1 ace, 13 kills, 11 assists, 21 digs, 3 block assists; Kaufman, 4 kills, 7 assists, 1 dig, 1 solo block; Conder, 6 assists, 2 digs; Gentry, 6 digs, 2 block assists; Smith, 6 digs; Probst, 2 aces, 2 assists, 3 digs; Slifer, 2 block assists; Gratz, 1 assist, 3 digs

Neoga -- Roy, 5 kills, 8 digs; Gresens, 11 kills, 2 blocks, 3 aces; Hotze, 3 kills, 1 ace; Romack, 5 kills, 1 ace 8 digs; Ott, 4 kills, 9 digs; Miah, 13 digs; Easton, 24 assists, 5 digs

At Centralia

The top two seeds advanced in the Class 1A Centralia Christ Our Rock Lutheran Regional with victories Tuesday evening.

Top-seeded Woodlawn downed Sandoval 25-12, 25-10 in the opener.

In the second match, South Central, seeded second, was a 25-11, 25-11 winner over host Centralia Christ Our Rock Lutheran. Maria Brasel led the Cougars in kills with 13 and aces with four. Emily Chapman had 20 assists. Hannah Rubin led in points with 10. The Cougars improve to 19-14.

The two squads will square off at 6 p.m. Thursday for the regional championship.

At Centralia

South Central -- Brasel, 13 kills, 7 points, 4 aces; Chapman, 20 assists, 7 points, 3 aces; Rubin, 5 kills, 10 points, 2 aces; Schaal, 3 kills, 5 digs

At Robinson

Newton and Robinson will meet for the title of the Class 2A Robinson Regional.

Robinson won the opener over Lawrenceville, 25-12, 25-14.

In the second match went to the Eagles over Flora 25-23, 25-15. Koebele led the winners in assists with 15. Litzelman had six kills and two blocks. Johnson led in digs with nine. Ka. Hardiek had two aces.

Newton (21-10) meets Robinson at 6 p.m. Thursday for the regional championship.

At Robinson

Newton -- Ka. Hardiek, 2 aces, 1 dig; Koebele, 1 ace, 2 kills, 15 assists, 3 digs; Johnson, 1 ace, 3 kills, 2 assists, 9 digs; Cohorst, 1 ace, 3 digs; Litzelman, 6 kills, 1 assist, 2 blocks; Frohning, 6 kills, 1 block; Kline, 5 kills, 1 assist, 1 block, 5 digs; Kr. Hardiek, 1 kill, 1 block, 5 digs

At Wayne City

North Clay (Louisville) saw its season come to an end in the Class 1A Wayne City Regional. Cisne won the opener over North Clay 25-23 but the Cardinals came back with a 25-22 count to tie the match. Cisne then won 25-22.

In the second contest, Wayne City beat Clay City 25-18, 25-17.

Cisne and Wayne City now meet at 6 p.m. Thursday for the championship.

At Hutsonville

Cowden-Herrick and Hutsonville advanced to the championship with victories Tuesday evening.

Cowden-Herrick downed Dieterich in three games. Dieterich won the opener 25-23 but the Hornets came back with 25-17, 26-24 scores to pull out the match.

Hutsonville Co-op then downed Oblong in three. Oblong won the opener 25-20 but Hutsonville Co-op came back with 25-17, 25-19 counts for the win.

Cowden-Herrick takes on Hutsonville Co-op at 6 p.m. Thursday for the championship.

At Hutsonville

Dieterich -- Hunzinger, 3 aces, 10 digs, 1 kill, 19 assists; Winters, 2 aces, 2 digs, 8 kills, 2 blocks; Flach, 13 digs, 1 kill; Boerngen, 6 digs, 3 kills, 5 assists; Vahling, 2 aces, 15 digs, 8 kills, 1 assist; Lane, 5 digs

At Litchfield

Shelbyville advanced to the championship match with a win over Pana in the Class 2A Litchfield Regional Tuesday.

The Rams won 25-17, 25-20. In the second match, Carlinville downed Vandalia 25-18, 25-18.

Shelbyville meets Carlinville at 6 p.m. Thursday for the championship.