Stew-Stras Downs St. A, Three Tied Atop NTC Volleyball Standings

Stewardson-Strasburg defeated Effingham St. Anthony 25-22, 25-22 Tuesday and now three teams are tied atop the National Trail Conference volleyball standings.

"I'm so proud of the girls tonight," said Stew-Stras Coach Ronda Schlechte. "This has been our best game yet this season. they were all really pumped about the game. They kept fighting when they were behind and they got the job done.

"The mental toughness was there and they kept the momentum. We were really worried about St. Anthony's blocking and have been working on the quicker plays. It paid off for us."

The Comets were led by Clara Kaufman with two aces, Kendall Knop with 13 kills and 12 digs and Becca Schlechte with 12 assists. Stew-Stras is now 8-1 in the conference, 13-5 overall.

The Bulldogs were led by Logan Braunecker with eight kills, Megan Nuxoll with 14 digs and Hailey Mathias with 14 assists and three blocks. The loss was the first in the conference for the Bulldogs who are tied with Stew-Stras and Altamont.

In junior varsity action, St. Anthony won 25-5, 25-20. Stew-Stras drops to 4-5 in the conference, 7-6 overall.

At St. Anthony

Varsity Match

Stewardson-Strasburg -- Schlechte, 1 ace, 2 kills, 12 assists, 11 digs, 1 block assist; Quast, 2 kills, 10 assists, 7 digs; Knop, 13 kills, 12 digs; Tabbert, 3 kills, 5 digs, 1 solo block, 1 block assist; Burton, 5 digs; Stremming, 2 kills, 6 digs, 1 block assist; Locke, 1 dig; Kaufman, 2 aces, 1 kill, 1 block assist

St. Anthony -- Woltman, 5 digs; Mathias, 2 kills, 2 digs, 14 assists, 3 blocks; Wendt, 2 kills, 2 digs; Braunecker, 8 kills; Mumm, 2 digs, 1 assist; Nuxoll, 5 kills, 14 digs; Schultz, 9 digs; Schmidt, 4 digs

Junior Varsity Match

Stewardson-Strasburg -- Conder, 5 assists, 2 digs; Vonderheide, 2 aces, 3 kills; Milby, 1 ace, 4 digs; Garrell, 1 assist, 5 digs; Ballinger, 2 aces, 1 kill; Slifer, 1 ace, 2 kills, 1 dig; Gratz, 1 kill, 7 digs

At St. Elmo

Altamont pushed its NTC record to 7-1 with a hard-fought victory over St. Elmo/Brownstown Tuesday evening.

The Indians lost the opener 26-24 but came back to tie the game with a 25-15 victory. Then in the final game, Altamont fought to a 30-28 win and improves to 19-5 overall.

White led in kills with 12 and stuff blocks with three. Wendling had 25 assists. Ledbetter had 11 digs.

Altamont won the junior varsity match 25-20, 25-13 while St. Elmo/Brownstown took the freshman/sophomore contest 25-19, 25-11.

At St. Elmo

Altamont -- White, 12 kills, 2 assists, 5 digs, 3 stuff blocks; Kopplin, 7 kills, 2 digs; 1 stuff block, 1 ace; Alwardt, 3 kills; Ledbetter, 3 kills, 11 digs, 1 ace, 1 stuff block; Wendling, 3 kills, 25 assists, 5 digs, 1 ace; Laatsch, 2 assists, 3 kills, 1 stuff block; Johnson, 9 digs; L. Ohnesorge, 2 digs

St. Elmo/Brownstown -- Bone, 12 kills, 3 digs; Moore, 8 kills, 1 assist, 1 ace, 17 digs; Oberlink, 8 kills, 3 assists, 1 ace, 2 digs; Howard, 6 kills, 2 assists, 3 digs, 3 solo blocks; Behl, 2 kills, 14 assists, 2 aces, 1 dig; Austin, 1 kill, 2 aces, 9 digs; Walk, 1 kill, 14 assists, 1 ace, 4 digs; Guerrero, 2 digs

At Charleston

Charleston defeated Effingham to pick up an Apollo Conference victory. The Trojans won the opener 25-19 but Effingham came back with a 27-25 win.

Charleston then claimed the match 25-19. EHS drops to 3-3 in the conference, 9-10 overall. The Hearts were led by Bethany Donaldson with five digs, Felicia Totten and Rachel Weis with nine assists each and Chandler Ramey with 13 kills. Josie Zerrusen had two aces while Donaldson, Brittany Beals and Stephanie Robb had two blocks each.

Charleston won the junior varsity contest 20-25, 25-22, 25-20. In an exhibition match, the two teams split. Effingham won 28-26 while Charleston won 25-17.

At Charleston

Varsity Match

Effingham -- Roberts, 2 kills; Donaldson, 5 digs, 1 assist, 1 kill, 2 blocks; Beals, 4 kills, 2 blocks; Zerrusen, 3 digs, 1 assist, 2 aces; Ramey, 2 digs, 13 kills, 1 ace, 1 block; Nunamaker, 1 assist, 3 kills; Totten, 2 digs, 9 assists, 1 kill; Robb, 3 digs, 2 assists, 3 kills, 2 blocks; Weis, 2 digs, 9 assists, 1 kill

Junior Varsity Match

Effingham -- Chrappa, 1 dig; Roberts, 5 digs, 2 assists, 3 kills, 2 blocks; Heckert, 3 digs; Kocher, 3 digs, 3 assists, 1 kill; Ikemire, 3 digs; Weis, 5 digs, 15 assists; Pike, 4 digs, 5 kills, 2 aces; Pruemer, 15 digs, 4 kills, 2 blocks; Logan, 1 dig, 3 kills, 1 ace, 1 block; Green, 4 digs; Nunamaker, 7 kills, 1 ace, 1 block; Mitchell, 10 digs, 1 assist, 2 aces; Fred, 2 digs

Exhibition Match

Effingham -- Depoister, 1 assist; Habing, 1 assist; Meinhart, 8 digs, 6 assists, 2 kills, 3 aces; Brandt, 1 dig; Garren, 2 digs, 1 assist; Baker, 1 dig, 6 kills; Shah, 2 digs, 1 assist, 1 kill, 2 aces; Pike, 2 aces; Scavone, 1 ace; Boggs, 2 digs, 5 aces; Byers, 1 block; Borries, 1 assist; Cain, 5 digs, 3 kills, 1 block; Webster, 1 kill, 2 aces; Krinnicka, 2 aces

At Newton

Newton defeated Oblong in two games, 25-17, 25-18 to improve to 5-1 in the Little Illini Conference, 16-9 overall.

Leading the Eagles were B. Koebele in aces with five, assists with seven and blocks with one. A. Cartright had seven kills, five digs and A. Cartright with one block. E. Johnson had five digs.

In junior varsity play, Newton won 25-20, 25-15.

At Newton

Varsity Match

Newton -- Koebele, 5 aces, 1 kill, 7 assists, 1 block, 2 digs; E. Johnson, 4 aces, 1 kill, 2 assists, 5 digs; Zerrusen, 1 ace, 4 assists, 2 digs; Cartright, 1 ace, 7 kills, 1 block, 5 digs; Litzelman, 1 ace, 2 kills; T. Johnson, 1 ace, 4 kills, 1 assist, 2 digs; Kline, 3 kills, 1 assist; Sandschafer, 2 digs

At Neoga

Neoga picked up a non-conference win over Ramsey 25-12, 25-14. Leading the winners were Courtney Croy with seven kills, Demmie Long with 17 assists, Jillian Deters with four digs, one stuff block and four aces.

The Indians are now 13-8 overall. Neoga also won the junior varsity match 25-22, 25-10.

At Neoga

Varsity Match

Neoga -- Kastl, 1 kill, 2 digs; Ott, 3 kills, 1 dig, 2 aces; Cry, 7 kills, 1 block :Deters, 2 kills, 4 digs, 1 stuff block, 4  aces; Long, 2 kills, 17 assists; Harshman, 3 digs, 1 ace; Gresens, 4 kills, 1 dig, 2 aces; Partlow, 2 digs; Romack, 1 kill, 2 digs; Easton, 2 digs; Neece, 2 digs