Sunday, November 15, 2009 9:47 PM CST
Lady Pirates win final two sets, earn third place
By MIKE MONAHAN, Staff Writer
mmonahan@jg-tc.com
NORMAL — Cumberland junior Kennedy Gabel’s ace gave the Lady Pirates volleyball team third place in the Illinois High School Association Class 1A tournament at Redbird Arena on the campus of Illinois State University.
“I was hoping I would get an ace and it happened,” said Gabel. “It felt really good. I was excited about it. Everyone was jumping around and to finish with an ace was great.”
Cumberland defeated Payson-Seymour 20-25, 25-20, 25-11 and in the process set the school record for number of wins in a season, going 30-3. Last year’s 29-4 third place team had the previous record.
“I was a little nervous out there,” said Cumberland coach Monica McNeil. “I still think I was a little disappointed that we were not playing the 10:30 a.m. (championship) match as opposed to the 9:30 a.m. match. I am very proud of the fact the girls really did stay positive. We came out in front of the first set and let them back into it and just couldn’t get it back. In the second match it was on them. We knew what we needed to do. We knew what we needed to get done and they did it. It was up to them and they accomplished their goal. They came out today with the goal to win and we get to leave with a big trophy.”
Lanark Eastland went on to win its second straight state title beating Mount Pulaski 25-15, 26-28, 25-17.
The team received its third-place medallions as each players name was announced.
“It is the experience of a lifetime,” said McNeil of the awards presentation. “It is a good time for all.”
Seymour led 6-3 in the third set when a block by Sparks gave her the serve. Sparks served seven straight points, which included two kills by Shupe and a back row hit by Gabel for an 11-6 advantage.
“It was an awesome experience that I was able to serve,” said Sparks, a sophomore. “Early in the season I wasn’t serving. I didn’t start serving until the sectional championship against Edwards County.”
McNeil said Sparks wasn’t serving earlier as she had her playing back row defense.
“She also had a big run against Bunker Hill because we got beat in the first set against them and then I think she served eight aces in a row. It has been a huge factor and it has helped us when we needed it.”
After a point by Seymour, Cumberland increased its lead to 10 points as Madison Sparling served five points, which included a kill and a block by freshman Kassidy Hunt as well as kill by Whitaker. That put Cumberland ahead 17-7 and the Lady Pirates began to smell third place. Prior to the final point the Cumberland faithful were standing encouraging the team on.
Cumberland freshman Kassidy Hunt who had six kills in the match said she was at last year’s semifinal match.
“At the start of the season I was scared because I didn’t know what I was going up against because it is so much different than junior high,” said Hunt. “I started to step up as the season went along. I never thought of what playing at state would be like. It is just a lot more intense than I thought it would be.”
After dropping the first set, Cumberland never trailed in the second one scoring seven of the first nine points. The Lady Indians rallied to tie the set at eight and the game was deadlocked for the fourth and final time at 11. It was 18-17 when Cumberland scored four unanswered points, including three by Macy Shupe which also featured one of eight kills by Gabel. Seymour didn’t get closer than four in the set which ended with a kill by Sparks.
The first set was even at 14 when the Lady Indians, who finished 36-4, went on a 7-1 run to take control. Cumberland had led by three on three different occasions. Seymour’s run began with a kill by Dakota Flesner who also earned the serve and earned two straight as Alese Speckart had a kill. It was 18-15 when Stephanie Harris, one of six seniors on the team served three straight points. The Lady Pirates didn’t get closer than four the rest of the set.
“The first game today was an indicator of how we played all season. I am glad people got to see the type of team we are,” said Payson-Seymour coach Rita Speckhart. “We executed really well in the first set. Cumberland has an all-around attack. They were hitting from all different directions which made it hard to defend. We are disappointed, but finishing four in the state is amazing.”
Cumberland was led in kills by Shupe and Gabel with eight each, while Sparks had three aces and Gabel was tops in digs with 20. Sparling led in sets with 18. The Lady Pirates had 38 kills compared to 27 for the Lady Indians and had a .179 hitting percentage compared to .092. Cumberland had 61 digs compared to 41 for Payson-Seymour and seven aces to the Lady Indians three.
Of the 12 JG/T-C volleyball teams, Cumberland ties with Shelbyville for the third most volleyball trophies with two Kansas, now a part of Tri-County, a sports co-op with Oakland, has four final four finishes, while Stew-Stras has the most with six. The Lady Pirates become the third team to earn back-to-back third place in Class 1A or A.
CUMBERLAND: Macy Shupe 8 kills, 1 assists, 1 ace, 7 digs, 1 block; Kennedy Gabel 8 kills, 2 sets, 2 aces, 20 digs; Madison Sparling 18 assists, 1 ace, 8 digs, 1 block; Brittany Whitaker 7 kills, 15 assists, 12 digs, 1 block; Sadie Sparks 7 kills, 1 assist, 3 aces, 2 blocks; Kassidy Hunt 6 kills, 1 block; Lacy Hornbeck 1 kill; Brittany Day 1 kill; Skyler Messinger also played
PAYSON-SEYMOUR: Dakota Flesner 6 kills, 11 digs; Catherine Richards 3 kills, 2 blocks; Stephanie Harris 7 kills, 1 ace, 4 digs, 1 block; Katie Whelan 3 digs; Erin Smith 1 kill, 23 assists, 3 digs; Alese Speckhart 9 kills, 1 assists, 2 aces, 8 digs; Alyssa Smith 12 digs; Constance Smith 7 digs; Lizzie Richards 1 kill, 1 block; Rebecca Wolf 1 dig
Contact Mike Monahan at mmonahan@jg-tc.com or 238-6854.
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