Area eighth grade teams enjoy trophy haul from IESA state volleyball tournaments

Three area junior high school volleyball teams brought home state trophies Saturday.

In the Illinois Elementary School Association Class 4A eighth grade state tournament, Quincy Junior High School finished second, winning a pair of matches Friday night and Saturday morning before falling to Bloomington Evans in straight sets in the championship match.

The Comets beat Minooka 25-15, 25-15 in the quarterfinals at Mahomet-Seymour High School as Kenndy Geiselman had eight service points and Katelyn Peter had three aces. In the semifinals, the Comets rallied to beat Taylorville 21-25, 25-23, 25-20 with Madelyn Hamby collecting nine service points. In the title match, Bloomington Evans won 25-15, 25-18.

QJHS finished with a 21-2 record.

In the Class 3A eighth grade tournament at Pana High School, Quincy Catholic beat Staunton 25-21, 25-15 in the quarterfinals as Lanie Fesler had 11 service points and Taylor Genenbacher had eight. In the semifinals, the Crusaders lost to Morris Saratoga 25-18, 20-25, 25-21 as Genebacher had nine service points and Alex Terwelp had eight. Quincy Catholic rebound to beat Sherrard 25-16, 25-20 in the third-place match as Genenbacher had 10 service points.

Quincy Catholic finished with a 22-2 record.

In the Class 1A event at Central A&M Middle School in Assumption, Southeastern beat Cornell 25-11, 25-15 in the quarterfinals with 14 service points from Tegan Rigg. In the semifinals, the Suns lost 25-21, 25-17 to Cissna Park with five service points from Jaelynn VanBeck and Adriana Starks. In the third-place match, Decatur Lutheran beat Southeastern 25-21, 25-23 as Tegan Rigg had nine service points and Kenzie Griswold added eight.

Southeastern finished with a 20-4-1 record.