Loud and clear: Raiders feed off crowd’s energy to dispatch Chargers and win regional championship

QUINCY — The bouncy, boisterous, energetic way the Illini West volleyball team plays can be distracting or intimidating.

Quincy Notre Dame combatted that with plenty of noise of its own.

Buoyed by a sizable, vocal crowd, the Raiders maintained an even-keel approach throughout Thursday night’s Class 2A QND Regional championship match at The Pit to systemically earn a 25-13, 25-17 victory.

“We really are a calm team,” QND senior right side hitter Ali Entrup said. “We can’t let the excitement get to us. We just have to play our game.”

The Raiders are becoming better and better at that.

“Everybody needs to keep their composure,” QND senior middle hitter Abbey Schreacke said. “It’s not just a physical game. It’s a mental game. That’s something a lot of girls might have struggled with at the beginning of the season, but now they are tougher mentally.”

It’s easier when the home crowd drowns out everything else.

“It was loud in here,” Entrup said. “And that was good to see.”

It was appreciated, too.

“I’m thankful for the crowd we had tonight,” QND coach Courtney Kvitle said. “I love it when it’s loud in here, especially for a volleyball match. So that was awesome.”

It may get loud, too, for Monday’s semifinals of the Class 2A Farmington Sectional knowing how well the QND faithful travel. The Raiders (32-3) will face Orion (29-8) at 6 p.m. in the first of two matches. Macomb (32-3) plays Sherrard (30-7) in the other semifinal.

Three more victories will earn QND a final four berth. Five more win a state championship.

“When Coach got back in the huddle, she said, ‘That’s two games down. Lots more to go,’” Schreacke said.

That’s why the Raiders won’t stray from their mission.

“Right now, I feel like they’re super focused,” Kvitle said. “They’re not screaming with energy, but they’re not super down. They’re really even keel right now. I love to see that. It’s showing their confidence.”

So is the Raiders’ attack. Four players had four or more kills and sophomore setter Annie Eaton dished out 24 assists. Schreacke led QND with 10 kills and two blocks, while Emma Hoing had six kills.

“We came out strong. We played our game. We didn’t let what they were doing affect us,” said Entrup, who had four kills. “Coach has started giving us scouting reports, which is helping out tremendously. We’re calling out things and we know where everyone is at.”

More importantly, they are showing no signs of weakness.

“We were really solid,” Schreacke said. “We did what we needed to do. We had our game plan and we executed it.”

Reagan Reed led Illini West with seven kills, seven digs and five assists, while Josie Bryan had six kills, eight assists and four service points. Corin Robinson added five digs for the Chargers, who finish with a 28-9 record and tie for second most single-season victories in program history.

“We have a fantastic group of girls who worked hard all season and played selflessly and fearlessly — two traits that will benefit them well beyond the court,” Illini West coach Dakota Lafferty said.