Posts Tagged ‘Amanda Stephens’
Sounds of silence: Panthers regain proper mentality following tourney loss, steamroll Hornets
MT. STERLING, Ill. — The Central-Southeastern girls basketball team didn’t need a pep talk. In fact, Panthers coach Matt Long had not spoken a word to his team from the moment they left the gym after their 56-37 loss to Breese Mater Dei on Saturday in the Pana Thanksgiving Tournament championship to when they took…
Read MoreSoutheastern 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…
Read More‘This is only the beginning’: Lady Suns Classic title start of something special for Southeastern
AUGUSTA, Ill. — Amanda Stephens knows the Southeastern volleyball team has bigger fish to fry, but that doesn’t diminish the excitement of winning a tournament on their home floor. “This is only the beginning,” Stephens said. Southeastern went 5-0 and didn’t lose a set en route to a Lady Suns Classic title. The Suns swept…
Read MoreSister, sister: With knee fully healthy, senior Amanda Stephens joins younger sibling to lead Suns
AUGUSTA, Ill. — Amanda Stephens’ troublesome knee isn’t giving her trouble any longer. A senior setter and hitter on the Southeastern volleyball team, who has committed to Indiana University-Indianapolis, missed the final 12 matches of her junior season and watched the Suns fall in the Class 1A sectional semifinals all because the pain in her…
Read MoreAfter stealing first set from St. Thomas More, Suns’ season sets with second-place finish
NORMAL, Ill. — The incomplete team with the imperfect defense nearly pulled off the improbable upset. Tiny Augusta Southeastern, vying to become the school with the smallest enrollment to win the Illinois High School Association Class 1A volleyball state championship, stunned No. 1-ranked Champaign St. Thomas More 25-22 to win the first set Saturday morning…
Read MoreVolleyball official gets rare opportunity to watch from stands during daughter’s state tournament run at Southeastern
NORMAL, Ill. — Christine Stephens got to watch most of her daughter’s volleyball matches this fall, but not in the way most moms do. Arguably the best high school volleyball official in West-Central Illinois, Stephens is in gymnasiums many nights during the fall. When her freshman daughter, Amanda, takes the floor for the Augusta Southeastern…
Read MoreBlaze of glory: Stephens, Suns reach first volleyball championship match in school history
NORMAL, Ill. — Springfield Lutheran volleyball coach Katie McCulley knew what was coming. Her team played Southeastern in the finals of the New Berlin Tournament in September, and she saw first-hand what 5-foot-10 freshman Amanda Stephens could do when the Suns won in two sets. So it didn’t surprise McCulley when Stephens dominated Friday morning’s…
Read MoreThird-set rally helps Suns achieve destiny with state volleyball tournament berth
GRANVILLE, Ill. — The situation seemed daunting, and Tim Kerr admittedly wasn’t sure how to change course. The Southeastern volleyball team trailed Newark 19-12 in the third set of Friday night’s Class 1A Putnam County Super-Sectional at R.M. Germano Gym, and the two-time reigning state champion Norsemen were in prime position to extend their 20-match…
Read MoreNo messing around: QND strong in all facets, hands Southeastern first loss
AUGUSTA, Ill. — From the moment her team stepped on the bus Tuesday night, Quincy Notre Dame volleyball coach Courtney Kvitle liked what she saw. “Tonight was the first time I felt like they were on a business trip,” Kvitle said. “They weren’t goofy, they weren’t overly excited, they were just happy. They were here…
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