he Normal West Wildcats clawed their way to the IHSA 4A sectional championship in a 3-set victory over the O’Fallon High School Panthers on Thursday, November 7 at Normal West.
After a huge emotional sectional semifinal win against cross town rival Normal Community, Wildcat head coach Kelsey Mueller said it took some refocusing to get ready for the Panthers.
“Practice was a little challenging yesterday. We watched some highlights of the match from Tuesday, and we talked about…let’s put it aside and be where our feet are now. It was a little bit challenging yesterday, but by the end of practice, they were all locked in and ready to go, so they did a great job,” Mueller stated.
The match against O’Fallon was not an easy one, as even before the match began, the game presented challenges.
In fact, the technology cut out during the playing of the National Anthem, but the Normal West student section, dawning their USA-themed clothing, picked it up and finished the National Anthem for the packed gym.
The Wildcats responded to their fans by getting a huge start in set one of the match.
Senior, St. Louis University recruit Ellie Rink got the Cats started with the first point, and the Cats rolled their way to a demanding 25-12 victory in set one.
Set two was a different story, though, as the Cats struggled with various serving, offensive, and defensive errors.
Even with a late West rally, O’Fallon would roll in set two, thanks to the play of senior middle hitter Gabby Behling (#10), giving West fits on the defensive side.
The Panthers would hold off a Cat come back to get a 25-23 win in set two.
Set three began with yet another Ellie Rink kill, and both teams battled back-and-forth to keep everyone in the stands on their toes.
In the end, though, the Wildcats proved to be too much for O’Fallon, winning 25-21 and taking their second consecutive sectional title.
“I think it brought back so many emotions from last year. The student section showed up, and everyone was just loud and supporting us through that whole match, even after that second set. I think we played all together and our impact together was just very solid,” Sophomore standout Eden Hafermann noted of their play.
The cats move on to the Elite 8 and will face the Chicago Marist Redhawks on Monday, November 11th at 6pm at Richton Park.
This super-sectional matchup will provide its own challenges to the Cats as the Redhawks took down volleyball powerhouse Mother Mcauley in two sets in their sectional championship on Thursday evening.
The cats will be ready, though.
“I’ll have to find some film on Marist, but at this point, all of it is a challenge, but we know that it’s gonna be hard, and we welcome the hard right now. So, we’re going to get to work and enjoy this, and then we’re going to get back at it, so we can push to state,” Mueller added of her team’s preparation.
“I know they’re a good offensive team. I haven’t seen them much, but I know they’re a big team. We’ll just focus on what we can control, like just cleaning some stuff up on our side and then just prepare to battle,” Ellie Rink noted.
Rink had 16 kills and 14 digs, while Junior Avery Feltes had 9 kills and 12 digs in the match.
A fan bus will be provided free of charge; however, students will be expected to pay for their own ticket into the contest. Students are advised to check their email to sign up for their spot on the bus.
In other local volleyball news, Normal U-High lost a close match to Mahomet, while Bloomington Central Catholic got a sectional championship against St. Thomas More.
