Southeastern makes history with fourth straight regional volleyball championship

HAVANA, Ill. — For all of the success the Southeastern volleyball program has enjoyed over the past four decades, there are still certain historic achievements yet to be reached.

Thursday night, the Suns eclipsed one of those.

For the first time in program history, Southeastern won its fourth consecutive regional championship, dispatching Triopia 25-13, 25-20 in the title match of the Class 1A Havana Regional. The senior class of Amanda Stephens, Savannah Ramsey and Gracie Arthur will be the first to graduate without a regional loss.

“It’s kind of a neat thing to run the table for a four-year career,” Southeastern coach Tim Kerr said.

A strong start in which the Suns (32-5) charged ahead by eight points set the tone for the sweep.

“We got control of the first set pretty quickly,” Kerr said. “We had a lot of nice contributions from a lot of kids.”

Senior middle hitter Amanda Stephens led Southeastern with 20 Kills and six assists, while sophomore setter Kara Stephens finished with eight kills, 16 assists and four blocks.

Next up for the Suns is a matchup with Hartsburg-Emden in the Class 1A sectional semifinals in Hartsburg. The xxxx beat Greenview 25-21, 25-17 in the Mt. Pulaski Regional championship and have the added advantage of playing the sectional at home.

“That’s another obstacle,” Kerr said.

By the due diligence of Southeastern assistant coach Autumn Schullian should have the Suns prepped for whatever comes their way.

“Truth be told, we’ve been preparing for that for the last week,” said Kerr, who said they scouted Hartsburg-Emden during the Quincy Notre Dame Volleyball Bash last weekend. “(Schullian) does a lot of watching of volleyball. She’s probably watched (Hartsburg-Emden) play five or six matches already, so we have a good idea of what they do and what they want to do. … There are a few things you want to pick up with tendencies and trends.”