Girls volleyball: Genoa-Kingston makes history with three-set supersectional win

PRINCETON – Genoa-Kingston’s Alayna Pierce bumped the ball toward the net where Alivia Keegan jumped and set it toward the right antenna.

Lily Mueller went up and swung, hitting the ball off the Quincy Notre Dame block.

When the ball fell to the ground, the six Cogs dove to the floor in a circle as their teammates flooded onto the court, followed by coach Keith Foster, arms spread wide in celebration, as the G-K student section stormed the court.

Mueller’s kill put the finishing touches on a historic G-K win as their 25-19, 22-25, 25-17 victory in the Class 2A Princeton Supersectional punched the Cogs’ ticket to state for the first time.

“That was the best feeling in the world, like we finally made it,” Pierce said about the final point. “This was our goal. It’s really a dream come true. We’ve been working for this all season. We’re a small town and we have a lot of support. It just means a lot, because everybody’s so happy.

“Just to know we made so many people proud, it’s amazing.”

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Members of the Genoa-Kingston volleyball team hoist the Class 2A Supersectional plaque after defeating Quincy Notre Dame in three sets in the Class 2A Supersectional volleyball game on Friday, Nov. 4, 2022 at Princeton High School. (Scott Anderson)

The Cogs (36-4) will face Illinois Valley Central in the state semifinals at noon Friday at Redbird Arena in Normal. The Grey Ghosts advanced with a 14-25, 25-14, 25-19 victory over 2021 state runner-up Pleasant Plains in the Maroa-Forsyth Supersectional.

“Making G-K history each and every day really pushes us forward and we’re definitely ready for state,” Keegan said. “We expect good competition [at state]. We want to go in with our heads up high but not cocky. We’re going to do the best we can and keep making history.”

The Cogs had a strong start to the match with a kill by Mueller and blocks by Keegan and Kaitlin Rahn on the first two points.

G-K only briefly trailed at 5-4 before taking the lead for good at 6-5 on an ace by Rahn.

The set remained tight until a tip by Keegan gave the serve to Kailey Kline, who rattled off five points to extend the G-K lead to 20-13.

Pierce’s back row kill ended the set.

The Raiders took control of the second set early and led from 4-3 on, but the Cogs made a late surge.

Down 24-18, Rahn put down a kill, and Kline started a three-point run with an ace to pull within 24-22 to before losing the set.

“We had a little dip in the second set but fought back at the end of it,” Pierce said. “[Between sets] we were like, ‘Let’s keep the momentum.’ We expected a fight. We’re in the supersectional, it was going to be hard. We really made sure we fought really hard.”

The third set was tight with six ties and neither team leading by more than two until three straight QND errors pushed the G-K lead to 14-10, forcing Raiders coach Courtney Kvitle to call timeout.

Out of the break, G-K had a service error but continued to push, stretching the lead to 19-13 with a run that included two kills by Pierce and capped by Keegan setting the ball to the back corner where the Raiders couldn’t get to it.

“We focused on where their main hitters were and tried to stop them and we did,” Keegan said about the run. “Our defense really picked up. We read every single hit they had and kept us in system to give our hitters the best option they could have.”

The Raiders rallied to within 20-17, but Kline hit a ball that skimmed the net and off the QND block for a sideout. Hannah Langton served out the match with Mueller ending the match.

“We gave nothing away,” Foster said. “When things got difficult and when our girls probably had nerves, they always found a way to make the play and play the match on our terms.”