Blue Devils fight to bitter end, fall to Ironmen in Class 4A regional volleyball championship

QUINCY — Quincy High School senior libero Carley Owsley wasn’t about to go down without a fight.

“I was prepared for them to be all over the place and to make me move,” Owsley said Thursday night. “I wanted every ball.”

And Owsley was able to dig a lot of them as the sixth-seeded Blue Devils tried to pull off their second postseason upset in 48 hours against Normal Community at the QHS gym. The top-seeded Ironmen eventually turned back the pesky Blue Devils, capturing a 25-22, 25-14 victory in a Class 4A regional championship match. 

“They are super resilient,” Normal coach Christine Konopasek said of the Blue Devils. “(Owsley) has been impressive. She covers a lot of space. At one point in time, we told our kids to stop feeding her opportunities to dig and to find other options. She seems to be the glue for them. She was really, really good.”

In the long run, the Ironmen were just a little bit better in front of a rowdy crowd that featured a vociferous Quincy student section. The Blue Devils fell behind 19-11 in the first set, but scratched their way back into the match. Kills by Genesis Torres and Kaley Summers and an Ironmen hitting error pulled Quincy with 21-19. Two Normal kills pushed it back to a 23-19 lead.

The Blue Devils got one last chance, getting a sideout on a Normal mishit to make it 23-20. Another Normal hitting error made it 23-21 and a Summers ace pulled Quincy to within 23-22. 

On the next point, it appeared as if Normal’s Lizzy Horton threw the ball back over the net on a kill attempt. The partisans in the crowd and the Blue Devils believed it was an illegal hit, but the chair official disagreed. As a result Normal increased its lead to 24-22 and captured the set on the next serve on a QHS hitting error.

“I told them in the first set, ‘They’re doubting us. We’re the sixth seed. They have no idea what’s coming for them. We have more strength than people think.’” QHS coach Kate Brown said. “That first set we showed them that with our blocks and our defense.”

The Blue Devils kept their composure going into the second set. Freshman Madison Loos had two kills and a block early in the second set and Summers served up another ace as Quincy built a 10-6 cushion. 

Normal fought back and tied the set at 12. Quincy looked to have regained the lead when senior Naveah Baker’s tip kill found an empty spot in the Normal defense. However, none of the officials could make the call whether the ball was in or out and the point had to be replayed. Quincy won the replay for a 13-12 lead, but Normal tied it immediately on a kill by Olivia Price.

That sideout put the ball in the hands of Normal senior Lizzy Horton, whose jump serves had flustered QHS in the opening set. Things didn’t get any better for the Blue Devils as Horton served nine straight points, including two aces, to put the game out of reach.

“We came into the huddle after the first set and kind of flipped the switch,” Horton said. “We had to get our heads into the game. It started a little tough at first, but we eventually got the momentum going.”

By the time Horton finally lost her serve, Normal built a 22-13 cushion. 

“We prepared the best that we could, but they adapted to what we had in the second set and kind of took us away,” Brown said. 

After two six-hour round trips to Quincy this week, Normal Community (25-12) will host next week’s sectional tournament. Konopasek said the regional environment at the cozy confines of the QHS gym was a challenge to play in.

“We haven’t played in a gym like this all year with everything being so tight to the court,” she said. “The students were really loud. This is a very different environment for us.”

Price finished a match-high 12 kills, while Erin Brandt added seven kills for Normal. Horton had five kills and seven aces.

Summers, Loos and Ayanna Douglas each had three kills to lead Quincy’s attack.

QHS finished its season at 18-18, a marked improvement from last year’s 8-26 campaign in Brown’s first full season as head coach. The Blue Devils have a sophomore class filled with talented players, which includes Douglas, Summers, setter Ava Crist, defensive specialist Abby Bunch and hitters Lydia Peters, Ella Grieving and Libby Goodwin. Add in Loos, who got valuable varsity time late in the season as a freshman, and QHS returns a solid nucleus. 

“Last year was a struggle and didn’t have a very successful season,” Owsley said. “We worked our butts off over summer with conditioning and practice. We were really prepared for this season and worked together.

“(The returning players) are going to do big things for this program, and I’m going to be right here to support them.”