Ready to rumble: QND takes care of business ahead of showdown with undefeated Macomb

QUINCY — Danielle White and the Quincy Notre Dame volleyball team know what lies ahead.

That’s why the Raiders coach was as impressed as she was with her team’s 25-19, 25-13 West Central Conference win over Southeastern on Tuesday at The Pit.

This win came 24 hours before a clash with undefeated Macomb, a rematch of last season’s Class 2A regional championship game, which Macomb won 25-18, 25-14.

“Tonight, we really just wanted to set the tone for what we wanted tomorrow to be,” White said. “Having a strong win tonight will help us continue to elevate tomorrow night.”

Tuesday’s result wasn’t always a foregone conclusion. After an ace by senior setter Annie Eaton on the first point of the match, the Raiders made three straight hitting errors during a 6-0 Southeastern run. The Raiders rallied to tie the set at 7 and took a 9-8 lead on an emphatic overpass kill by junior middle hitter Eva Breckenkamp, and the Raiders never trailed the rest of the set.

“Eva really set the tone for us tonight by putting that ball down, and everybody built off that,” White said. “That was great to see.”

The Suns again jumped out to an early lead in the second set. Two Amanda Stephens kills gave Southeastern a 3-1 advantage, but QND scored seven of the next eight points to take an 8-4 lead. 

Another Breckenkamp overpass kill got the Raiders to within three points of winning the match and gave them their largest lead of the set at 22-9.

Senior middle hitter Lauren Hummel couldn’t help but hype up Breckenkamp.

“When she had that overpass kill, I just went over and shoved her, and she was so alive,” Hummel said. “It was so fun.”

The celebration, high fives and Breckenkamp’s mean-mugging face following that kill encapsulated the energy and intensity Breckenkamp brings on a nightly basis.

“It’s fun to watch her because you see her put one down and you’re like ‘OK,’ and then she does it again, and you can see her get a little sass in her step,” White said. “She’s like, ‘Give me the next one because it’s going down, too.’ It’s great to see her energy.”

The Raiders (25-2, 7-0 WCC) got an extra boost of energy from a group of about 100 future Quincy Notre Dame students in first through eighth grade that filled the bleachers directly behind the QND bench.

“It was so cute,” Hummel said. “Before the game in the cafeteria, we had pizza with them and made bracelets and hair ties. They came into the locker room with us before the game. It was just really special.”

After the game, White presented Eaton with a commemorative volleyball and poster celebrating Eaton setting the QND career assists record. Eaton broke Beth Leisen’s record of 2,516 assists during a Raiders straight sets win over Rushville-Industry on Sept. 11. Eaton has racked up 206 assists since, putting her career total at 2,772 and counting.

“We had to get the ball ordered and get everything here to be able to do it,” White said. “She had no idea we were doing it, so it was a cool surprise. It’ll be interesting to see how far ahead she’ll get ahead of that record.”

Eaton didn’t even realize she had set the record.

“I had no idea,” Eaton said. “I was hoping I would reach that my senior year, but I had no idea what number I needed to pass and whether I was close or not.

“It was just a really special moment. I’ve really grown as a setter and as a person on this volleyball team, so to have that accomplishment is really, really cool.”

Southeastern coach Tim Kerr said the Raiders put the Suns on their heels during the majority of the match.

“At times we played conservative and tried not to make mistakes, and against the majority of the teams we play, we’re able to do that and still be successful,” Kerr said. “With the firepower that (QND) has, that just isn’t a good formula for success.”

Now Kerr will go to work on preparing the Suns for when they face teams of a similar caliber down the road.

“We just have to somehow simulate the pressure that they put on us because we’re eventually going to run into teams that do that, whether that’s in a regional, sectional or down the line even further, and we have to find an answer,” Kerr said. “We haven’t had an answer so far against Macomb or QND.”

Kerr commended his team from not backing down from the challenge, though.

“We talked about that before and during. Give yourself some credit and realize you belong on the floor out here with these girls,” Kerr said. “When you play well, you’re right with them. Sometimes humility is a good thing, but sometimes you have to have some boldness and recognize that you’re pretty good, as well.”

The Suns (18-3, 4-1 WCC) will host West Prairie on Wednesday.