Tournament title sends QND volleyball team into postseason with truckload of momentum

QUINCY — The Quincy Notre Dame volleyball team is heading into the postseason on a roll.

The Raiders went 4-0 in the QND Volleyball Bash on Friday and Saturday, highlighted by a 25-20, 16-25, 15-11 victory over Breese Mater Dei, the No. 1 ranked team in Class 2A, on Friday.

“It was some of the best volleyball I’ve seen in a long time,” Raiders coach Danielle White said. “We had volleys that were at least 10 touches, and it was over and over again. Everybody was picking up a lot, and then somebody would throw the ball down, and it went back and forth. The amount of energy both teams exerted that entire game was fun to see. We came out on top, and it was phenomenal.”

That win followed a straight sets victory over St. Teresa and a 24-26, 25-12, 16-14 barnburner against Hartsburg-Emden in which QND rallied from down 14-13 in the third set.

“Eva Breckenkamp was phenomenal,” White said of the junior middle hitter’s performance on Friday. “She exploded and just continually kept putting the ball down. The girls just feed off of that energy. Annie (Eaton) and Nora (Wiley) connected really well. Everybody did their part like they always do.”

The Raiders rode that wave of momentum into Saturday when they faced Lincoln. QND handled the Railsplitters 25-14, 25-15, catapulted by a 7-0 run to begin the first set.

“Coming out strong was maybe some of the leftover adrenaline from last night,” White said. “I’m very proud of them and couldn’t ask any more from them.”

The Raiders used a 4-0 run to take a 7-3 lead in the second set, and Lincoln got as close as 12-11, but QND never trailed the rest of the set.

“Their do-or-die mentality of we have to do what it takes to get to where we want to be has really set in, and they’ve accepted that that’s what their mentality has to be,” White said.

Macomb split its doubleheaders on both Friday and Saturday. The Bombers dropped their first match 22-25, 25-21, 14-16 against Lincoln and rebounded with a 25-15, 25-15 victory over St. Teresa.

The Bombers beat Hartsburg-Emden 26-24, 25-19 in the first game at The Pit on Saturday. Breese Mater Dei swept Macomb 25-19, 25-21 in the final match before postseason play for both teams.

“I was pleased with the weekend,” Bombers coach Briana Rexroat said. “I was hoping we’d get three wins this weekend, but I also knew there was a possibility we would get no wins. The fact that we came out with two wins, I’m excited.”

Macomb trailed Breese Mater Dei 17-10 in the second set but rallied to tie it at 20 on an Emily Westerhold ace. After calling a timeout, the Knights scored four of the next five points to wrap up the match.

“I was happy with how we battled back against Breese,” Rexroat said. “We showed a lot of grit. We were right with them in set two, but we made some of those silly errors that we’ve kind of been talking about all season.”

The Bombers (30-4) will face Peoria Notre Dame on Tuesday in the Farmington Regional semifinals. The Raiders (32-2) will take on the winner between Monmouth-Roseville and Beardstown in the Warsaw Regional semifinals.