Friday, November 13, 2009 11:07 PM CST
Almost, but not quite enough
Cumberland battles to final point at state
By MIKE MONAHAN, Staff Writer
mmonahan@jg-tc.com
NORMAL -- After splitting the first two sets in the IHSA Class 1A state volleyball tournament at Redbird Arena on the campus of Illinois State, Cumberland trailed Lanark Eastland 24-18 and it appeared the Lady Pirates were on the ropes.
Like a prize fighter, Cumberland battled to the end. The Lady Pirates, a team that trailed Sciota West Prairie 21-17 in last year’s third place match before winning, rallied to within one before the match ended on a kill by Eastland’s Megan Bunyer on a long point that was filled with digs, blocks and kills by both teams.
“It was just so fast and we were all like we had to go,” said Brittany Whitaker, a senior. “It was all confusing and so fast.”
The Lady Cougars, 39-2, advanced to the state championship with a 23-25, 25-13, 25-23 victory. Cumberland is to play at 9:30 a.m. for third place today against Payson-Seymour, 36-3.
“Having been up here last year not necessarily as a coach but as a fan in the stands, and no discredit to the team that came up here last year, but I felt like we played really hard and gave it everything we had,” said Cumberland coach Monica McNeil, who is in her seventh year overall, having coached the Lady Pirates from 1997-2002. “We came out a little poorly in the second game, but they should be proud of their performance. You look at last year’s match versus this year’s match and I think you have to come away positive. I told them we still have tomorrow (today). I definitely want to come out of here with a third place trophy as opposed to a fourth place.”
Mount Pulaski, coached by Arthur graduate Donna Dulle, advanced to the championship with a 19-25, 25-17, 25-20 victory over Payson-Seymour.
With Eastland leading 24-23, and after a long rally, the match ended with a kill by Bunyer, one of her 12, which tied for team honors with Courtney Blair, a six-foot-one junior.
“We lost eight points a match offensively from last year and one of the ways we thought we would be an easy fix would be at the service line,” said Eastland coach Kristy Pierce. “We had 11 aces and 15 attack errors so that seems to be the way we won the match today is making up for our errors at the service line.”
Last year Eastland won 25-22, 25-16 en route to its first state championship and Cumberland earned third place, its best finish.
“They (Eastland) reminded me a lot of Edwards County,” said Cumberland’s Kennedy Gabel, who led the team in digs with 14. “They can hit at every position.”
Cumberland, who with a win today would set the school record for number of wins in a season, also had its 20-match winning streak snapped. The Lady Pirates, who don’t have a player taller than 5-9, had lost the second set to Edwards County 25-8 in the sectional championship before bouncing back to win 25-23.
“We are a small team,” said McNeil. “We went up against a 6-1 player from Bunker Hill who could just reach over our block. It is not about stuffing it, it is just about slowing it down so our girls can get behind it. I think the girls have done a really good job. We are literally the smallest team at state. I think Mount Pulaski and Payson-Seymour have bigger girls and we don’t. So, we may be the largest school in 1A (enrollment wise), but we are the smallest (physically) too.”
On the final point when McNeil was asked about a possible four hits by Eastland, she said, “I have no clue. It was the world’s longest rally. I know some of our fans were booing, but I think it was more just the momentum and pace of the game. I didn’t see anything bad. The officials have to let them play. They have to call it the way they see it. I didn’t have any problems with it all.”
Cumberland trailed 13-8 in the final contest before pulling to within one, 17-16, on an ace by Kennedy Gabel, who had a team-high 14 digs. Eastland went on a 5-0 run which began with a kill by Katelyn Hasken, who served four straight points including an ace, and two kills by Bunyer.
Pierce, who is 758-158-9 and is in her 29th year said of the final point, “It had to be the longest point in the history of volleyball. It was for us and I know it was for them. I think the girls will be the first to tell you we didn’t relax and do the things we wanted to do. We didn’t play particularly well. Our hitters got some good swings and our servers got aggressive after the first set. We were just a little tentative at times.”
Cumberland began its rally with a kill by Macy Shupe, who had a team-high nine kills, off an assist from Madison Sparling. An ace by Sparling and back-to-back blocks by freshman Kassidy Hunt and suddenly the Lady Pirates were within one.
“Obviously you want to win, but I was very proud of the girls,” said McNeil. “They didn’t quit and both teams played hard.”
Eastland took control of the second set with five unanswered points, including four service points by Sidney Kane for a 10-2 advantage. Katelyn Hasken served four straight for a 16-4 advantage. Cumberland didn’t get closer than 10 points the rest of the set.
“We came out in the third set and changed our rotation a little,” said McNeil. “Kassidy Hunt, our freshman middle blocker, was up against bigger, stronger kids and I thought she did really well.”
Shupe said, “We knew we had to step it up and be there for all of the coverage. We had it the first game, but we couldn’t get back up the second game. We knew we could come back because of Edwards County. We knew they were going to hit all of the same spots as Edwards County. When we get behind a lot in the beginning we have to work really hard to get back up. Last year I played probably the worst game in my life (against Eastland). When I made a mistake today I tried to get back up and get everyone else up and tell them we could do it.”
The first set was tied 11 times, including at 22 when Whitaker earned a kill off a set from Sparling, and a hitting error put the Lady Pirates, who trailed 5-1, within a point of winning the set. After a kill by Bunyer the set ended with a net serve for a thrilling 25-23 victory.
“I felt like we came out pumped up,” said McNeil. “I think the girls were ready to go and I think the jitters were gone from last year. The first game was a battle back and forth.”
Eastland had 11 aces, compared to six for the Lady Pirates, and 40 kills to 31 with a hitting percentage of .208 compared to Cumberland’s .148.
“Our outsides did a great job mixing up shots and hit well,” said Pierce.
NOTE
Mattoon’s Mark Jackley was the floor official for the first semifinal match and Charleston’s Nathan Knuth sang the National Anthem.
CUMBERLAND: Macy Shupe 9 kills, 1 assist, 11 digs; Kennedy Gabel 5 kills, 3 aces, 14 digs; Madison Sparling 3 kills, 14 assists, 2 aces, 11 digs; Brittany Whitaker 4 kills, 14 assists, 8 digs, 1 block; Sadie Sparks 4 kills, 1 ace, 1 dig, 1 block; Kassidy Hunt 6 kills, 3 digs, 1 block; Alison Kimble 10 digs
EASTLAND: Karissa Pierce 1 kill, 3 assists, 3 digs, 1 block; Hope Linker 2 kills, 30 Assists, 4 ace, 5 digs; Katelyn Dickman 2 aces, 5 digs; Katelyn Hasken 11 kills, 3 aces, 5 digs, 1 block; Megan Bunyer 12 kills, 6 digs; Courtney Blair 12 kills, 1 assist, 3 blocks; Kaitlyn Bissell 9 digs; Sidney Kane 1 assist, 2 aces, 5 digs; Carissa Gruhn 2 kill, 1 dig; Kerby Kniess 3 assists, 20 digs
Contact Mike Monahan at mmonahan@jg-tc.com or 238-6854.
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