Stewardson Trinity Earns State Tourney Title

Members of the Trinity team are, front row, left to right, Anna Zacha, Kessler King, Gia Bostedo, Maddy Manhart, Cora Reed, Gracyn Montgomery and Hayden Reed. Back row, left to right, Bridgitte Friese, Katie Durbin, Tatum Kaufman, Abree Zalman, Kalia Friese, Lydia Weaver, Alyssa Zacha, Reese Stigers and Tammy Manhart.

 The Trinity volleyball team went to Springfield for the Lutheran Sports Association State Tournament where 16 Lutheran junior high volleyball teams competed.

Four pools were played and then the teams were placed into the bracket based on their finish in pool play. Trinity won their pool defeating Rockford, Trinity Edwardsville, and Bethel Morton. Saturday started the bracket matches, Trinity matched up with Mt. Prospect who finished second in their pool. These two teams met in this exact same match last year where Trinity fell short which kept them out of the final four. That would not be the case again this year.

"It was a tough three set match, but we came out on top," said Trinity Coach Tammy Manhart. "The next match was just as tough.Three hard fought sets which put us into the championship match scheduled for Sunday afternoon at Lincoln Land Community College.

"We faced Cross Yorkville in the championship match. This was our third time meeting this team this season. It is hard to beat a team three times and they looked much stronger then when we faced them earlier in the season. The championship match started out very competitive point for point. We struggled a little at the start of the match to get our sets on the net where we needed them so our hitters could swing aggressively mainly due to Cross's strong serving. Once we found our groove and started getting sets on the net, we were able to create a gap which allowed us to play our game and keep the pressure on them.

"We kept it rolling in the second set. Gia Bastedo had several serving streaks that really stretched the score in our favor in the second set. She started the match with six straight points and ended the set with the last nine points."

"All weekend it was a total team effort. The girls work so well together with everyone having their different roles and taking care of their responsibilities. I am so proud of the way the girls pushed through the difficult matches we faced in the second half of the tournament. They showed such mental toughness and never gave up or lost their composer. They just keep fighting and they were rewarded with a State Championship. We had amazing support from our fans and our Trinity family back in Stewardson."

This was the third time Trinity has won the LSA state championship in 2013, 2019 and 2024 and the second time under head coach Tammy Manhart.

LSA State Tournament

Stewardson Trinity bracket play stats -- Bostedo 33 points, 11 aces,, 39 assists, 4 digs; Reed, 31 points, 12 aces, 40 assists; Friese, 14 points, 7 aces, 49 kills, 1 assist, 24 digs; Zalman, 15 points, 5 aces, 34 kills, 16 digs; Weaver, 9 points, 3 aces, 2 kills, 2 assists; Montgomery, 5 kills; Stigers, 1 assist,; Manhart, 8 points, 3 aces, 15 digs; Zacha, 1 kill, 2 assists

Stewardson Trniity -- Bostedo, 20 points, 6 aces, 1 kill, 34 assists, 3 digs; Reed, 7 points, 4 aces, 17 assists, 1 dig; Friese, 7 points, 5 aces, 30 kills, 11 digs; Zalman, 29 points, 11 aces, 19 kills, 5 digs; Weaver, 4 points, 3 aces, 3 kills, 1 assist; Montgomery, 1 kill; Stigers, 1 kill; Manhart, 19 points, 10 aces, 7 digs; Zacha, 9 points 4 aces, 3 kills

Kalia Friese and Abree Zalman were named All Tournament team and Friese was named Most Valuable Player.