Blistering start to regional semifinal is reminder QND volleyball team is on postseason mission

WARSAW, Ill. — Even Quincy Notre Dame volleyball coach Danielle White’s most ambitious projections couldn’t have predicted the start the Raiders got off to on Tuesday.

QND scorched Monmouth-Roseville in the first set by scoring 20 of the first 21 points on its way to a 25-6, 25-15 victory in the Class 2A Warsaw Regional semifinal.

“The girls showed up, and I totally expected them to, but in that fashion?” White said. “When that chemistry amongst the girls is clicking, they’re unstoppable.”

Knowing her team is capable of dominating like this, White can’t wait for what lies ahead the rest of the postseason.

“I think it’s going to be a fun ride,” White said.

Raiders junior middle hitter Eva Breckenkamp had a difficult time recalling the last time she was part of such a torrid start to a match.

“I don’t think I’ve experienced that since maybe seventh grade,” Breckenkamp said.

Breckenkamp had three kills during the Raiders’ opening 10-0 run. Outside hitter Nora Wiley and middle hitter Tristan Pieper also had consecutive kills during that run. Setter Annie Eaton aced the Titans to extend the Raiders’ lead to 9-0.

“It feels so good knowing we have talent at every single spot on the court,” Wiley said. “We even have talent all over our bench, having those points coming from every single position gives us all the confidence we need.”

After surrendering their first point, the Raiders went on another 10-0 run and did not make a service or hitting error until the 24th point.

“I told my assistant (Kevin Young) at around point 15, ‘We’re a well-oiled machine,’” White said.

Breckenkamp said the Raiders relaxed a bit in the latter stages of the first set, and that relaxation carried over into the second.

“It can be really hard,” Breckenkamp said of maintaining focus with such a large lead. “It resulted in not as clean of a second set. We kind of got ahead of ourselves thinking that it was going to be like the last time. They started to kick it into gear on the other side of the net.”

The Titans played the Raiders to an 8-8 tie to begin the set. Monmouth-Roseville’s eighth point came on a Breckenkamp hitting error after two of her block attempts were dug out by the Titans.

“I was definitely frustrated,” Breckenkamp said.

Breckenkamp channeled that frustration into a crosscourt kill to give the Raiders a 9-8 lead, which they did not relinquish.

“I was like, ‘Oh, OK, give it to me again and I’ll put it down,’” Breckenkamp said.

White saw a shift in the Raiders’ mentality from that point forward.

“I looked at the girls and said, ‘They’re not touching us again,’” White said. “I think our mentality shifted from ‘We know we can win this’ to ‘We need to do the job and get it done.’ Once Eva got the ball down, we built from there.”

Breckenkamp saw the shift, too.

“The tempo was a little bit faster than the first set, and once you get a momentum kill, then you’re able to keep flying,” Breckenkamp said.

The top-seeded Raiders (33-2) have embraced the idea that every team is gunning for them.

“I don’t necessarily feel the pressure because we’re confident in our ability, but we have our minds set to what we want to do,” White said. “I have full faith in them, and I think they have full faith in me.”

Tuesday’s performance was evidence of that.

“Knowing you’re good and believing you’re good are two different things. We know and believe,” White said. “It’s gonna be fun.”