St. Elmo, Stew-Stras Win Regional Titles

ST. ELMO --St. Elmo High School claimed its own Class 1A Regional volleyball championship Thursday evening.

The Eagles defeated Brownstown 25-16 in the opening set and came back with a 25-22 victory for the title. S. Feezel led the squad in kills with seven and block assists with three. P. Manley had 17 assists while H. Seibert led in digs with six. M. Maxey had three aces.

The Eagles advance to the Lebanon Sectional Tuesday where they will face Woodlawn at 7 p.m. Woodlawn defeated Centralia Christ Our Rock Lutheran 25-23, 19-25, 25-19 to win the  Wayne City Regional title.

In the other sectional contest Tuesday at 6 p.m., Lebanon will square off against Grayville. Grayville defeated Noble 25-20, 26-28, 26-24 to win the North Clay (Louisville) Regional while Lebanon downed Mount Olive 25-12, 21-25, 25-8 to win its own regional title.

St. Elmo Statistics

Feezel, 7 kills, 1 assist, 5 digs, 3 block assists; Maxey, 4 kills, 1 assist, 3 aces, 2 digs, 1 block assist; Stites, 6 kills, 1 ace, 1 dig; Moore, 4 kills, 3 digs; Seibert, 1 kill, 1 assist, 6 digs; Manley, 17 assists, 3 digs, 1 block assist

Class 1A Neoga Regional

Stewardson-Strasburg picked up the championship of the Class 1A Neoga Regional by defeating host Neoga Thursday evening.

Neoga won the opener 25-21 but Stew-Stras came back with 25-11, 25-15 victories to pull out the title. Kendall Knop led the Comets in kills with 10 and aces with six. She also had 14 digs. Kelsie Walden had eight assists. Lindsay Burton had two solo blocks and two block assists.

"Neoga's defense really took us down in game one," said Stew-Stras Coach Ronda Schlechte. "But in games two and three we were able to get back into it. We were more effective getting around the block and more prepared for the tips. They just weren't able to read and react in game one. It was a very nice finish. I am very proud of them for not giving up."

The Comets, winning their first regional since 2007, improve to 22-15 on the season. They will now face Kansas at 7 p.m. Tuesday in the Stew-Stras Sectional. Kansas defeated Martinsville 25-7, 25-15 to win the Hutsonville Regional

In the opening sectional match, Broadlands Heritage faces Arthur-Lovington at 6 p.m. Arthur-Lovington defeated Atwood-Hamond 25-15, 25-12 to win the Bethany Okaw Valley Regional. Broadlands Heritage beat Cerro Gordo 25-19, 25-19 to win the Decatur Lutheran Regional.

Stew-Stras Statistics

Walden, 8 assists, 3 digs; M. Tabbert, 2 aces, 3 kills, 1 assist, 8 digs, 2 block assists; Burton, 4 kills, 1 assist, 4 digs, 2 solo blocks, 2 block assists; B. Tabbert, 1 ace, 8 kills, 2 assists, 8 digs; Knop, 6 aces, 10 kills, 1 assist, 14 digs; Gratz, 1 ace, 1 assist, 6 digs; Locke, 3 assists, 7 digs; Stremming, 1 kill; Quast, 2 kills, 10 assists, 4 digs