QND volleyball team makes right adjustments, captures title of own season-ending tournament

QUINCY — The plan for the Quincy Notre Dame volleyball team usually centers around feeding their front line players so they can hammer home kills.

The Raiders had to alter that plan a smidge in Saturday’s championship match of the QND Volleyball Bash inside Quincy University’s Health and Fitness Center. Staring the Raiders’ front line in the face was Breese Mater Dei’s Alyssa Koerkenmeier, a 6-foot, 5-inch sophomore middle blocker. 

QND struggled figuring out a way around Koerkenmeier early, dropping the first set 25-18, but then bounced back behind a balanced attack to win the final two sets 25-14, 25-17 to capture the championship. 

QND senior Abbey Schreacke said facing Koerkenmeier was a bit of a chess match.

“For me it was all about reading the other side of the court and finding an open hole to where I could tip to,” said Schreacke, who finished with a team-high nine kills. “It wasn’t necessarily about getting a hard hit, but putting it to where they couldn’t get it.”

Many of Schreacke’s kills were tip kills, where she worked up and around the block of Koerkenmeier and the Knights’ other tall front-line members. 

After failing to mount much of an attack in the first set, the Raiders got contributions from several players to pull even in the second set. A kill by senior Laela Hernandez-Jones gave QND an 18-14 edge. Senior Lilly Marth took things from there, serving out the final seven points of the set. Schreacke had two kills, Annie Eaton had a block and Hernandez-Jones capped the game with another kill.

QND coach Courtney Kvitle was proud of how her team adjusted throughout the match.

“They’re big but we had to figure out a way to get around it,” Kvitle said. “Laela hasn’t had a starting spot all season and came in and did phenomenal. We were able to spread our offense.”

Hernandez-Jones had six kills, smacking many off would-be blocks by the Knights (26-8).

“It was really difficult, and I got blocked a few times,” Hernandez-Jones said. “I was a little intimidated, but I know what I’m capable of.”

QND sophomore setter Annie Eaton was happy with how the Raiders’ front line attacked Mater Dei.

“There are not a lot of girls like (Koerkenmeier),” Eaton said. “We really had to spread out our offense and try to swing wide on the pins and get our pin hitters going. We had to tool off the block. 

“Laela tooled the block perfectly and really kept going at it. That should really help with her confidence going into the postseason.”

QND led 19-11 at one point in the third set, but the Knights crept to within 19-16. Senior Ali Entrup gave the Raiders the serve with a tip kill from the right side, the most important of her five kills.

“It’s hard to defend us when you have that many threats at the net,” Kvitle said. 

Koerkenmeier finished with seven kills and two blocks to lead Mater Dei. Emma Johnson added five kills and Ella Diercks had three kills and three blocks for the Knights.

The Raiders (30-3) won their own season-ending tournament for the first time since 2018. 

“We were ready to win a championship today,” Kvitle said. “I love this tournament right before the postseason. It gives us an idea of where we are at.”

QND begins its postseason journey at 6 p.m. Tuesday at The Pit. The second-seeded Raiders will face either sixth-seeded Pittsfield or seventh-seeded Rushville-Industry in a Class 2A regional semifinal game. The regional title game is set for 6 p.m. Thursday.