2024 Quincy Notre Dame Hall of Fame inductee: 2001 girls volleyball team

Editor’s Note: Quincy Notre Dame will hold its Hall of Fame induction ceremony at approximately 6:30 p.m. Saturday between games of the 2024 QND Tip-Off Tourney at The Pit. Below is the biography used by the QND Hall of Fame committee to honor one of this year’s inductees.

QUINCY — A magical postseason run that ended in the final match of the season on the Redbird Arena floor nearly got derailed before it ever started, but surviving a regional championship scare catapulted the Quincy Notre Dame volleyball team to unexpected heights.

The Raiders finished as the Class A state runner-up in 2001, losing to Breese Mater Dei in the title match, but it was a three-set victory over Camp Point Central in the regional championship that got things rolling in the right direction.

The Panthers scored the first six points of the first set and ultimately won the set, but the Raiders didn’t give up a point in the second set and finished off a 12-15, 15-0, 15-7 victory at The Pit in the regional championship match. The Raiders powered past Williamsville 15-11, 15-5 in the sectional semifinals and beat Riverton 15-6, 15-10 in the sectional championship.

QND earned its berth in the elite eight by beating Pawnee 16-14, 15-9 in the super-sectional. The Raiders limited Pawnee all-stater Jessica Manning to seven kills — half of her nightly average — while sophomore Kelly McGrath came off the QND bench to record a career-high 15 kills. The Raiders played without junior opposite hitter Sara Harman, who sprained her ankle in the sectional championship.

A 15-13, 15-9 victory over Byron in the state quarterfinals sparked again by McGrath, who had 11 kills, guaranteed the Raiders a state trophy. In the state semifinals against Mount Pulaski, QND won 8-15, 15-9, 15-8 as Erin Liesen and McGrath had three kills apiece in a critical stretch of the third set.

The second-place finish marked the third state trophy in a four-year stretch in which QND won the state title in 1998 and took second in 1999. Junior middle blocker Amy McFarland led the Raiders with 290 kills, while Liesen had 203 kills, 48 solo blocks and a team-high 285 digs. Both earned all-area honors.

The Raiders finished with a 27-16 record.

Team members were Lindsay Phillips, Erin Liesen, Sara Liesen, Robin Powers, Morgan Frericks, Melissa Fryer, Tara Stark, Kelly McGrath, Whitney Ernst, Sara Harman, Kari Tushaus, Erin Frese and Amy McFarland. Rhonda Jensen was the head coach with Fred Jensen, Bill Starkey and Rob Hinkamper as the assistant coaches.