No 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 to do what they wanted to do, and they showed that. There was no messing around.”

The Raiders showcased power and depth in a 25-19, 25-16 victory over Southeastern, handing the Suns their first loss after opening the season with 19 consecutive victories.

Abbey Schreacke led Notre Dame (19-1) with nine kills, but the Raiders had seven players with at least one kill — and five of them had at least three. Of the 50 points scored by the visitors, 27 of them came on a kill.

Seven Raiders record at least one kill in second game

“When you have that many attackers with that many kills, it’s really hard to stop,” Kvitle said. “It’s like, who do you pick to block? If you leave Laela (Hernandez-Jones) one on one, she’s gonna score. If you leave Emma Hoing one on one, she’s gonna score. If you leave Emma Borrowman one on one, she’s going to score. It’s hard. That’s what makes our team really good this year.”

The second game showed how many weapons the Raiders can deploy. Schreacke had four kills, while Borrowman, Hernandez-Jones and Delaney Beard had three each. Avery Keck came off the bench to contribute two kills, and Annie Eaton and Hoing had one each.

Southeastern made QND earn the victory, giving up just five points on hitting errors. The Suns simply didn’t have enough answers for all of the Raiders’ offensive options.

“They’re fantastic,” Southeastern coach Tim Kerr said of QND. “That’s a really good team. A lot of weapons, well coached, big and tall and strong and fast … they have everything you’d want.”

Kientzle scores back-to-back aces in both games

The Suns held an 8-5 lead in the first game and an 8-7 lead in the second game. However, strong serving helped QND overtake the hosts. Faith Kientzle had back-to-back aces in both games, and the Raiders’ serving kept the Suns off balance.

“You have to pass on a really high level to beat a team like this, and we didn’t,” Kerr said. “Our serve receive was sketchy. I told the girls we sent more free balls tonight than we have in our first 19 matches combined.”

“We really work on our zoning serves, serving to the weakest spot and trying to get aces,” Kientzle said. 

The score was tied at 15 in the first game, but a serving error, a service ace by Lilly Marth, and a kill and a block from Borrowman put the Raiders ahead comfortably. The Suns were as close as 13-11 in the second game, but two kills from Keck, two kills and an ace from Beard, and kills from Schreacke and Hernandez-Jones were part of a 6-1 run Southeastern couldn’t overcome.

Kvitle: ‘Everything was just on for us tonight’

Kerr was pleased with his team, which played for the first time in 12 days.

“We never felt we were completely outclassed,” he said. “This is obviously by far the best team we’ve played all year. You can’t give them anything. If you do, you’re going to eat it.”

“That’s a very talented team. I mean, wow, they are very talented,” Kvitle said of Southeastern. “But we just put it to them tonight. We had great serving nd great passing, and we ran out offense. Everything was just on for us tonight.”

“Our chemistry was really good tonight,” Kientzle said. “I think we played our best game tonight.”

Borrowman and Hernandez-Jones had five kills each, and Beard had four.  Freshman Amanda Stephens had seven kills for the Suns, and Taylor Wagner had five.