"It was just surreal": Normal U-High wins state championship in straight sets over Nazareth Academy
- Michael Savoie
- 1 day ago
- 3 min read
NORMAL – Normal U-High's short trip to CEFCU Arena came with a long-awaited prize.
The Pioneers are Class 3A state champions for the first time since 2000 with a thrilling straight-set victory over La Grange Park Nazareth Academy: 25-20, 25-20.
Laney Snow led all Pioneer attackers with 10 kills, Morgan Petelin added 15 assists to lead the team, and Ava Crabtree contributed 14 digs, also a team-lead. Petelin and Taylor Penn scored two blocks.
"Honestly watching that last ball drop and the point reaching 25, it was just such a relief," Madison Funk, who notched the final point and kill of the match said. "It's just such a great accomplishment to have after 25 years of not doing it and being able to tell everyone we won [means a lot to us]."
Thanks to a Crabtree kill and a Nazareth error, Normal U-High got out to a good start in the first set. The Roadrunners and Pioneers would trade set-runs afterwards and would get things close with a slim 8-7 Normal U-High lead after a kill from Nazareth's Talia Surendran.
The Pioneers would go on a 10-3 run mid-way through the set to take a 18-11 lead, thanks in part to kills by a host of Pioneers including Alyssa Wolf, Petelin, Snow, Crabtree, and Funk.
Part of what makes a formidable team is the many weapons it has, and Normal U-High has an assortment of weapons.
"We have a very balanced team, a lot of our players are so well rounded," Normal U-High head coach Ratasha Thompson said. "They can do lots of things, most can serve, they can pass, they can hit, which is super helpful to be to balance our offense and keep our opponents on their toes."
Nazareth could not quite rebound after the Normal U-High run, and despite having a 3-0 run towards the end to make things interesting, a kill from Petelin put the opening set to rest.
The second set began completely tight, with both teams unable to pull away from eachother early. A kill from Crabtree broke what was a 6-6 match and was the start of a 6-0 run from the Pioneers to finally pull away from the Roadrunners.
The lead would not be taken from an ever-confident Normal U-High team.
"Ever since we stepped foot in this arena [for the first time], I was confident that we were one of the best teams here," Snow said. "We have gotten all the training, all of the coaching all of the teamwork that we needed.
"So I've been confident since the start that we could pull out the state championship."
For every run Nazareth had, Normal U-High had a response.
Two Nazareth 3-0 runs in the match put the Roadrunners within three points, and a 2-0 run towards the end of the set brought it to a 22-19 score in favor of Normal U-High.
But when Normal U-High bended, it did not break.
With the match at 23-20, coming off a kill from Surendran and with Nazareth serving, momentum felt as if it was shifting towards the Roadrunners, but the Pioneers were not fazed.
Kills from Crabtree and Funk cemented the second-and-final set, and Normal U-High's place in history as state champions.
"I just thought I can't wait to embrace everybody physically," Snow said about after the final point. "That's just another way to show that I'm so proud of everybody that was on the court, and I think we deserved that win.
"We put in so much work this season, so all of the emotions that we've had this season came back to me in that moment, and it was just surreal."