Nothing is going to get Raiders down as fun-loving attitude carries them to sweep of Indians

PAYSON, Ill. — Quincy Notre Dame volleyball coach Danielle White knows the days are ticking away until the postseason begins.

“Forty days is not a lot, so we have to start really performing how we are going to want to be performing come that 40-day mark,” White said.

That was White’s message to her team before the Raiders’ 25-8, 25-7 victory Wednesday over Payson Seymour.

“I think that really set the tone for them,” White said. “We’re improving every game, which is exciting.”

The Raiders used an 8-0 run to pull away to a 23-7 lead in the first set, but not before a moment that White believes epitomizes her team’s attitude and fortitude. With the Raiders leading 8-3, junior Eva Breckenkamp committed a net violation going for a kill, but instead of showing any signs of frustration, Breckenkamp and her teammates simply laughed it off.

“I did it yesterday in practice in that same rotation, so it’s kind of funny,” Breckenkamp said.

White couldn’t help but smile, either.

“It’s the aggressiveness, and you can’t even get mad about it,” White said. “I would rather her be in the net, be aggressive and put that ball down versus going up and missing it or not even trying.” 

Breckenkamp translated that aggressiveness into a blistering kill on the very next play.

“She knew she was in the net, everybody knew she was in the net, but she owned it,” White said. “Then she came back and said, ‘OK, I’ll just get the next one,’ and she did that so flawlessly.”

Breckenkamp moved to opposite this year after playing middle blocker her first two seasons at QND, but Breckenkamp played in the middle for the first time this season on Wednesday, shuffling Lauren Hummel to the pins.

“I was like ‘well, here we go! Got to get back in the rhythm,’” Breckenkamp said of her move back to the middle. “But I know what’s going on, I know the girls and it’s really easy to jive with them.

“It was fun to be back. I’m really excited for the rest of the season to see where I get to play.”

The Raiders used runs of 6-0 and 7-0 to take the second set in commanding fashion, finished off by junior Nora Wiley’s swing down the middle of the court.

“I was ready for that ball,” Wiley said. “We said it beforehand, I did a symbol, and ran a bic. It was a fun ending.”

Wiley said the Raiders ran a crisp offense Wednesday, an encouraging sign as they approach the final month of the regular season.

“It was so nice to just be able to run our plays and know they’re going to work later in the season,” Wiley said. “Getting them figured out now is something we really need.”

The Raiders (17-2) also racked up six aces, led by Breckenkamp’s three.

“We’ve been reviewing our stats to see where we need improvement. As far as aces and serving errors, like every ace we had, we’d have a service error, so we really weren’t getting anything from our aces,” White said. “I told them we need to get out of that slump of just giving other teams points from missing serves. We really focused on that this past weekend at our tournament, and we’re continuing to see improvement.”

Payson coach Stacy Gilmore said the Indians’ front row had a difficult time contending with the length and power of QND’s hitters.

“The one thing (senior libero) Josie Fessler asks is for the blockers to get a touch on it, and that didn’t happen tonight,” Gilmore said. “We were a little late on the block, and it showed. It makes things a little harder on the back row.”

Gilmore believes the Indians, which have nine underclassmen and just two seniors, have not come close to their ceiling.

“Our front row is younger, so getting that strength, confidence and ability to go up high, go up strong will come in time,” Gilmore said. “From a back row standpoint, we can pass and dig a ball just as well as (QND) can.

“I’ve got great hitters and a great back row. We’ll get there.”

QND will welcome Brown County to The Pit on Thursday, while Payson (4-5) will host Illini West.