Windsor/Stew-Stras, Newton Claim Volleyball Regional Titles

NEOGA -- Windsor/Stewardson-Strasburg came out strong and handed upset-minded Effingham St. Anthony a 25-17, 25-22 loss to claim the Class 1A Neoga Volleyball Regional championship Thursday evening.

In the opening set, the Hatchets were in control, taking a 3-1 lead, then going oin a 6-0 run. The Bulldogs came without two points several times but the Hatchets pulled ahead 10-4 and never looked back.

In the second set, St. Anthony put up a big fight. WSS stepped out to a 7-2 lead but the Bulldogs regrouped and went on a 7-0 tear to take a 9-7 lead. WSS regained the lead but St. Anthony wouldn't go away and pulled ahead 12-11.

Regrouping, Windsor/Stew-Stras put together a 5-0 run but the Bulldogs rallied once again to pull within 18-16. St. Anthony made one final run, pulling with 24-22 but the Hatchets went out at 25-22.

"A regional championship is always nice," said WSS Coach Ronda Schlechte. "We struggled a bit with errors midway through set two but overall the girls did a good job. They were able to bounce back. Autumn Bennett had a really great game at the net along with Becca Schlechte. Kenzi Tabbert and Carson Cole did a nice job on defense. Kenzi had another strong night serving. From here on out we have to focus on playing our best and letting go of errors to get back into the game."

St. Anthony ends the season with a 19-18 record while Windsor/Stew-Stras advances with a 28-9 mark to the Decatur Lutheran Sectional where it will face Cisnaa Park at 6 p.m. Tuesday. In the second match, the winner of the Arcola Regional will face Farmer City Blue Ridge at 7 p.m.

At Neoga

Windsor/Stewardson-Strasburg -- Bennett, 1 ace, 6 kills, 1 assist, 2 digs, 2 solo blocks; B. Schlechte, 8 kills, 16 assists, 4 digs; Kaufman, 2 kills, 1 dig, 1 solo block; Gentry, 1 ace, 3 kills, 1 dig; M. Schlechte, 3 kills, 5 digs; Tabbert, 3 kills, 5 assists, 9 digs; Cole, 1 assist, 10 digs

St. Anthony -- Stock, 1 assist; Will, 6 kills; Moore, 3 kills; Woltman, 4 digs, 9 assists, 3 kills, 1 ace; Kabbes, 1 dig, 1 assist, 1 ace; Mills, 4 digs, 1 assist, 1 kill, 2 aces; Richards, 2 digs, 1 kill, 1 ace; Dammerman, 3 digs

Class 2A Newton Regional

Newton claimed its own regional championship by beating Robinson in two straight sets 25-20, 25-20.

Bergbower tallied eight kills for the Eagles. Hartrich led in assists with 16, digs with 12 and had one block and one ace. Weber added an ace while Earnest and Frohning had a block each.

Newton advances to the Shelbyville Sectional where it will face Pana at 7 p.m. Tuesday. In the opening match, Shelbyville will take on Piasa Southwestern.

At Newton

Newton -- Bergbower, 8 kills, 9 digs; Hartrich, 4 kills, 1 ace, 1 block, 16 assists, 12 digs; Frohning, 4 kills, 1 block; Weber, 1 ace, 2 assists; Kline, 1 block; Earnest, 1 block; Cohorst, 2 assists, 8 digs

Class 3A Decatur Eisenhower Regional

Effingham High School saw its stellar season come to a close with a loss to Mahomet-Seymour in the championship match 25-20, 25-21.

The Hearts came into the regional on fire, with 10 straight victories. But Mahomet-Seymour also was hot, upsetting top-seeded Mount Zion in the opening round.

Effingham was led by Chandler Ramey with eight kills and 11 digs. Sidney Webster had nine assists. Jennifer Fred led in aces with two. Chloe Martin, Shelby Nunamaker and Weber had one block each.

EHS ends the season with a 24-13 record. Mahomet-Seymour picked up its first regional championship since 1996 and will now head to the Rochester Sectional Tuesday.

At Decatur

Effingham -- Chrapp, 2 assist, 3 digs; Fred, 6 kilsl, 1 assist, 2 aces, 8 digs; Martin, 1 block,1  dig; Nunamaker, 4 kills, 1 block; Pike, 2 kills, 8 assists, 2 digs; Ramey, 8 kills, 11 digs; Websster, 1 kill, 9 assists, 1 block, 5 digs

Class 1A South Central Regional

South Central put up a good fight but eventually went down to Cisne. The Lions took the opening set 25-22 but South Central fought back with a 27-25 win.

Cisne then took the regional title 25-18.

Kendall Burleyson led South Central with 17 points and three aces. Emily Chapman and Serena Germany had six kills each. Chapman led in assists with 12. Deidra Schaal led in digs with six. The Cougars end the season at 26-8.

At Farina

South Central -- Burleyson, 17 points, 3 aces, 5 killsl, 11 assists; Chapman, 2 points, 6 kills, 12 assists, 2 stuff blocks, 4 digs; Gemrany, 6 kills; Garrett, 5 kills, 1 stuff block; Schaal, 4 points, 5 kills, 6 digs; Rubin, 6 points, 1 kill, 3 digs, 2 aces; Crain, 2 points, 1 ace, 4 digs; Wilkins, 1 point

Class 2A Cumberland Regional

Shelbyville picked up its first regional championship since 2010 and squashed any hopes Teutopolis had of winning its first ever volleyball regional.

The Rams swept the Wooden Shoes 25-20, 25-15. 

"Every team except one ends the season with a loss and our season ended tonight," said T-town Coach Tim Mills. "Shelbyville is having a great season and they certainly earned the victory. They made very few mistakes and pressed us at the serving line and the attack line. Our girls came ready to play. They had lots of energy. Maybe too much. I think they were a little too keyed up to start.

"We spotted them a five point lead and then chased them to 25. Set two was different. We trailed early 9-4 but Hannah Kreke got on a roll and closed to within a point at 15-14. Shelbyville went to work at that point. They ran off five points with some really good defense and blocking. We just couldn't put the ball down. They put the game away with another five point run in the next rotation.

"We had a really good season. I'm realy proud of the way we finished. Teutopolis volleyball is coming."

At Toledo

Teutopolis -- Bueker, 2 blocks, 3 kills; Drees, 1 assist; Grimes, 4 digs, 3 kills, 2 points, 9 assists; Hoene, 2 blocks, 3 digs, 5 kills; Hutson, 1 block; Kingery, 2 digs, 1 point; Kreke, 4 digs, 6 points; Kroeger, 7 blocks, 9 digs, 9 kills, 4 points; Michels, 3 blocks, 3 kills; Repking, 13 digs, 2 kills, 1 assists; Westjohn, 4 digs, 1 kill, 3 points, 10 assists.

Class 1A Oblong Regional

Clay City picked up this regional championship but had to go three sets against St. Elmo/Brownstown to do so.

The Wolves tallied a 26-24 hard-fought win in the opener. SEB fought back to take the second set 25-22. But Clay City went out at 25-21 for the title.

Gabi Moore led SEB in kills with 10 and digs with 15. Emily Bone and Brandi Howard had two blocks each. Sarah Maxey tallied 26 assists. The Eagles end the season with a 23-13 record.

At Oblong

St. Elmo/Brownstown -- Moore, 10 kills, 1 ace, 1 block, 15 digs; Howard, 7 kills, 2 blocks; Bone, 4 kills, 2 blocks; Carson, 1 ace, 1 block; Maxey, 1 ace, 26 assists, 10 digs; Philpot, 1 ace, 1 block, 11 digs