Illini Bluffs fights back several times but falls in Class 1A volleyball semifinals
NORMAL — “We don’t quit, we don’t quit, we don’t quit.”
Those words were chanted repeatedly by the Illini Bluffs student section, which was over 300 strong, bright and early Friday morning at CEFCU Arena in Normal.
Whenever the Tigers needed a point, that chant — a brand-new one the Tigers hadn’t heard yet this season — would egg them on, giving them motivation to dig deep and make multiple comebacks in their Class 1A State semifinal against Tomahawk Conference counterpart Athens.
And quit, their Tigers did not.
Illini Bluffs surmounted a first-set deficit, saw the Warriors even the score in the second, then battled back from seven points down in the third set but fell 26-24, 18-25, 23-25 in a down-to-the-wire finish.
“I don't really have another synonym for proud,” Illini Bluffs head coach Quincy Thompson said. “It just gets bigger and bigger with every point, with every match, with every day. I had them at the end turn and look at the scoreboard because they can walk away looking at that score, knowing we took them to three sets, we didn't just go easy and play afraid or be timid.
“We fought back for every single point, and we just really made them have to earn it. We weren't just going to hand it to them so watching them fight for every ball, be aggressive at the net, leave literal skin on the floor. I don't know what else you can ask for as a coach.”
Illini Bluffs will play for third place on Saturday at 9 a.m. against Okawville. The Tigers are guaranteed to bring home their second state trophy in program history after finishing as the Class 1A runner-up in 2019.
“It's always good to make the school proud,” Illini Bluffs junior Emerson Eeten said. “I mean, coming from such a small town too, it just feels good to make our community proud.”
Friday’s match was a special one for Eeten. The junior and Illinois State commit was playing on her future collegiate home court and took over the match multiple times, finishing with a game-high 23 kills to go with seven digs.
She rattled off a personal 4-0 run with three kills in an ace in the third set to help Illini Bluffs climb out of a 13-6 deficit, its largest of the match, and close the gap to 13-10. Twice, she slammed down kills to bring the Tigers within one point late in the third set, but trailing 24-23, her final swing sailed too far to seal Athens’ victory.
“She got out there, played her role, went hard, she gave it everything,” Thompson said of Eeten. “She trusted her teammates and they showed up for her, she showed up for them.”
“Illini Bluffs has very strong hitters and every time they got a kill, I think we retaliated,” Athens outside hitter Lydia Hart said. “We pushed them. We kept them out of their system and that was kind of how we got our leads, and we were able to finish out the game in the second and third set.”
The Tigers led briefly at the start, but mostly trailed for the early part of the first set. A kill from Athens’ Devan Barrett put the Warriors ahead 15-11, but Illini Bluffs roared back.
Several attack errors led to Tigers hitter Kelsey O’Connor’s kill to tie the first set at 16-16. Eeten added three more kills and a Warriors attack error helped make up a 9-1 run for the Tigers.
Stephens said breaking the game down into small chunks helped the Tigers come back, something they’ve been accustomed to during the season.
“Our game is just small games at a time, like that's what I try to tell us,” Stephens said. “We get two, they get one, and I feel like that helped us fight, breaking it down instead of just seeing it and thinking ‘Oh my gosh, you have to get 20 more points, you have to get 10 more points.’ And my hitters are so easy to find, and I know that if I give them an opportunity, they'll just put it down.”
Athens went on to tie it back up at 24-24, but a combo block from Sofia Hicks and Maddy Stephens plus a kill from Eeten gave the first set to the Tigers.
“I think that in the first set, I think we were doing really well,” O’Connor said. “I think we had a lot of energy in that first one, and then the second set, we came back out, and I don't think it went the way that we wanted it to, but I'm glad that we caught back up in the third set and had such a close match.”
“Obviously it’s not how we wanted it to go, but I'm so proud of everybody and I think that tomorrow we can come out and do better.”
Despite Friday’s match having the same final outcome, Thompson noted much improvement from her squad compared to when the two teams faced off during the regular season. Athens beat Illini Bluffs 25-17, 25-21 on Oct. 19.
“We knew coming in today that we were just going to absolutely just tighten up [and] focus on the little things because those little things add up to make a big difference,” Thompson said.
The two conference foes battled to a 9-9 deadlock to start the second set following a dump kill from Stephens, who finished with 34 assists and 12 digs. But Athens won nine of the next 13 points and hung on, despite another late charge from the Tigers.
“Volleyball is, again, those momentum shifts, especially from what we've seen this season,” Athens head coach Britani Morrison said. “So I just told them ‘You can't give them momentum, we have to take it, we have to keep it, even if we fluctuate a bit.’”
Illini Bluffs held a .197 to .167 advantage in hitting percentage while Athens made a difference from the service line with 10 aces to the Tigers’ one. Illini Bluffs junior outside hitter Addi Woertz came up big on multiple occasions and finished with 15 kills, five assists and an ace. Junior libero Chenoa Howard added 15 digs and Hicks put up a team-high two blocks.
Hart led Athens with 12 kills and 17 digs and Arabelle Cunningham added 25 assists and 12 digs.
“When the last ball drops on the court, it does feel really bad, but I'm really happy [with] how we played,” Howard said. “We came back from a really long rally…and I'm just glad that I did it with my best friends.”
The Tigers will get an opportunity to earn a bit of revenge on Saturday against Okawville, who beat Illini Bluffs in the 2023 Class 1A girls basketball state title game.
O’Connor and the rest of the team are eager to play for one last time this season in front of a community that’s supported them in droves.
“Our fans are really good at cheering and I think they have definitely shown up in this postseason for us and I think their support has been really helpful.”
As the finality of Tigers’ loss set in, there predictably was disappointment, but there was also plenty of pride.
And certainly no quit.
“We kind of just had a little moment to talk as a team and really just kind of let everything sink in,” Thompson said. “I mean, this is an exciting time in general. A great match going in three, and kind of point for point…we're definitely going to hold our heads high on that.”
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