Panthers’ scrappiness not enough to overcome Stags’ offense in sectional championship match

HARTSBURG, Ill. — The scrappiness that catapulted the Camp Point Central volleyball team to Thursday’s Class 1A Hartsburg-Emden Sectional championship match was there.

The Panthers just could not translate that scrappiness into enough points.

Hartsburg-Emden captured the sectional championship on its home floor by sweeping the Panthers 25-17, 25-19.

“It was just too much defense not turning into offense,” Panthers coach Sarah Bauer-Herron said. “That just seemed to be what kept the momentum tonight, the big hits. We had some really good digs, as well. We just weren’t able to put the ball away after those digs. We just didn’t put the ball away as quickly as they did.”

The most notable example of the Panthers’ inability to cash in on that all-out defensive effort came with the Panthers leading 12-8 in the second set. Central senior middle hitter Kayli Bockhold dove to keep a ball from falling on the Panthers’ side, but after the Stags got the ball back across, senior outside hitter Karly Peters’ swing clipped off the top of the net and sailed wide. This set in motion a 7-0 Stags run that resulted in a 15-12 Hartsburg-Emden lead, one it did not relinquish.

“That was a big deal,” Hartsburg-Emden coach Jennifer Hayes said. “You try to simulate those in practice a lot, just throw them, throw them, throw them, make them go, make them tired, make them make choices, throw them everywhere and see what they do. Those are the big momentum changes in volleyball.”

The Panthers used a 6-0 run to take an 8-5 lead earlier in the set, and Bauer-Herron felt the energy her team had during that run deflate when the Stags started rattling off points.

“They did to us what we wanted to do to them, which was chip away at the points when we were behind,” Bauer-Herron said. “Everyone could kind of feel it. The level we were at when we were on that run, you hope we can keep some of that confidence to take that momentum back again, but unfortunately that didn’t happen.”

A Bockhold kill stopped the Stags’ run, and the Panthers got as close as 16-15 but could not level the score. Peters made amends with a kill to trim Central’s deficit to 23-19, but the Stags scored the final two points, the last of which came on an Addi Briggs kill through the Panthers’ block.

“In the postseason, with that no-drop mentality, we were able to get on the offensive side of that a little bit more,” Bauer-Herron said. “That type of team, you just need them to be on defense more.”

After the loss, Bauer-Herron encouraged her players to be proud of what they accomplished by reaching the sectional championship game and sweeping Decatur Unity Christian, the No. 1 seed on their side of the Hartsburg sectional bracket, to get there.

“The girls had a lot in front of them, and they were the underdog the whole entire time,” Bauer-Herron said. “They knock out the No. 1 and come and play in the sectional championship. They need to feel proud about that. I feel like we deserved to be here. It didn’t surprise me that we did what we did in the postseason because they just needed to believe in themselves.”

More importantly for Bauer-Herron, this group set a great example for the youth volleyball players who will join the Panthers’ program shortly.

“Getting to the sectional championship and seeing some of the younger girls in the stands, the youth that come to our youth camps, it’s just exciting for them to know and recognize the postseason,” Bauer-Herron said.

The Panthers have nothing to hang their heads about, considering this loss came at the hands of a Hartsburg-Emden program that has reached five final fours in the last 19 seasons, won a state title in 2006 and finished second in Class 1A last season. Bauer-Herron said stepping into the gym and seeing those banners covering the walls can be intimidating.

“Look around. We knew we had a lot up against us, especially on their homecourt,” Bauer-Herron said. “The tradition you see around you when you’re on their home court, you have to stop for a second.”

Even in that setting, the Panthers (23-8) displayed a moxie that impressed Hayes, who is in her 30th season leading the Stags and has amassed 802 wins in her career.

“I knew they had a great ballclub,” Hayes said. “I watched them against Unity, and they handled them well. I knew they played great defense and kept the ball alive. You saw that. There were a lot of long rallies.”

The Stags (30-8) advance to the elite eight where they will take on Illini Bluffs, which beat Henry-Senachwine to win the Williamsfield Sectional.