Blaze of glory: Stephens, Suns reach first volleyball championship match in school history

NORMAL, Ill. — Springfield Lutheran volleyball coach Katie McCulley knew what was coming.

Her team played Southeastern in the finals of the New Berlin Tournament in September, and she saw first-hand what 5-foot-10 freshman Amanda Stephens could do when the Suns won in two sets.

So it didn’t surprise McCulley when Stephens dominated Friday morning’s semifinal match in the Class 1A state tournament, collecting 14 kills in a 25-16, 25-23 victory at Redbird Arena.

The Suns (38-2) advance to Saturday morning’s championship match against Champaign St. Thomas More, which overcame a 25-19 loss in the first set of the first semifinal to win the next two sets 25-22, 25-18 over Freeport Aquin.

McCulley’s sister, Michelle Cox, is the assistant coach at Lutheran. The sisters are second cousins to Stephens’ father, Jeremy. Cox’s daughter, Makenna, led the Crusaders in kills this season with 378. 

“I think (Stephens and Makenna Cox) are like third cousins,” McCulley said.

Cox led the Crusaders on Friday with 11 kills, but Stephens overwhelmed Lutheran. She put her stamp on the match with a kill on the final point of the second set.

“We shut her down way more than we had the first time we saw her,” McCulley said. “I thought we executed our blocking very effectively at times, but she was hard to beat.”

“Amanda is a closer, a finisher,” Southeastern coach Tim Kerr said in the post-match press conference. “She has the mentality of a champion. We are fortunate to call her a teammate. I’m fortunate to coach her, and at the same time, she’s very fortunate to have us as well. 

“As far as the match today, any time we needed to make kill, Amanda was the one we went to. She did a great job of taking care of business looks like she has all year.”

Kerr then turned to Stephens and said, “Amanda, how much fun was that?”

Stephens replied, “Oh, it was so much fun. It was way more fun than I expected.”

Nerves were expected in the opening minutes of the first set, but the Suns raced to a 6-0 lead. Taylor Wagner had two kills for Southeastern, but the Crusaders had four hitting errors in that run.

“It was very important to us to get a good lead,” Southeastern setter Ani Kerr said. “Just to get comfortable and throw the first punch early.”

Lutheran closed to within 13-11, but two more kills from Wagner and three hitting errors by the Crusaders pushed the lead out to 18-12. Southeastern never let the lead shrink to less than five points after that.

Lutheran led 5-2, 6-3 and 9-6 in the second set before Southeastern made its run, scoring nine of the next 10 points. Stephens’ tip over a triple block by Lutheran tied the score at 10. A service ace by Abbey McMillen put the Suns ahead for good, and Stephens had a block and a kill to put Southeastern ahead 15-10.

“We all came together as a team,” Wagner said about the rough start to the second set. “We decided like before the game that we were here to have fun, to play hard, to do our best and not get down on each other and play well together.”

Lutheran got within 15-13 and 17-15, but Stephens answered each time with a kill. Eventually Lutheran tied the score at 22 on a hitting error by Wagner. However, McMillen delivered her third kill of the match, a cross-court shot, to put Southeastern back in front for good.

Southeastern served for the match at 24-22, but a kill from Cox kept Lutheran alive. On the final point, Ani Kerr knew where to get the ball.

“It makes me feel really good (to know Kerr was looking for her),” Stephens said. “After every set, she gives a talk to us. We talk to each other and how we can make each other’s hits or sets better.”

Southeastern has a chance to win the first state championship in any sport in school history. This team already is guaranteed of finishing no worse than the 2001-02 girls basketball team, which lost in the Class A state championship game. Southeastern’s best previous finish in the volleyball state tournament was in 1981 when it placed third. The Suns have eclipsed the school single-season mark for victories as well.

“Never in our wildest dreams in the beginning of the year did we think we would be sitting up here and getting ready to prepare for tomorrow,” Tim Kerr said. “It’s a great feeling. We’re super excited about the team and about everything we’ve done this year. I cannot believe we’ll be playing the last match (on Saturday).”