Streator drops 1st set, rebounds for senior night win over East Peoria

STREATOR – There can be many reasons why a team plays a little out of sync.

For Streator on Tuesday at Pops Dale Gymnasium against East Peoria, it was the combination of senior night and the fact they were without middle blocker Mya Zavada for all but a of couple points and three other players were missing because of illness.

The Bulldogs struggled finding their collective footing in the opening set loss to the Raiders, but bounced back for a solid 17-25, 25-22, 25-22 victory to even their season record at 13-13-5. East Peoria fell to 12-19.

“Our best middle, Mya Zavada, has a sprained ankle, and we also had three other players not here because of sickness,” said senior Emma Rambo, who was honored and started along with classmates Sonia Proksa, Shaelyn Groesbeck, Leah Krohe, Madelyn Martin and Zavada. “We’ve had a few times this year where we were missing someone, and when that happens we struggle to play consistently. We’d have five or six points in a row where we’d play great, but then we’d follow that with five or six points that weren’t great.

“It was just a matter of all of us sticking together, forgetting about any bad plays we made and just working to make the next one. It felt like we finally started to find our rhythm at the end of the third set. I’m glad we did.”

Streator was led by junior Aubrey Jacobs who had 13 kills, with Proksa adding seven kills and two blocks and Rambo six kills and six service points, including a pair of aces. East Peoria was paced by nine kills, 10 points and three aces by Lizzie Stenger, while Addi Duncheon had seven kills and Addison Billingsley four kills.

“I’m just glad Mya still got to play a little even though she was injured and that all six of us seniors got to start,” Proska said. “We didn’t play as well as we could a lot of times tonight, but we found a way to make some plays towards the end to help us pull it out. We were able to work through a tough situation, and that’s something I’ll remember years from now when I think of this night.”

The third and deciding set was tied at 22, but consecutive kills by Jacobs and an ace on match point by Maiya Lansford closed out the Streator win.

In the opening set, East Peoria led 15-12 before a five-point service run by Stenger helped give the Raiders the upper hand.

Then in the second set, the teams see-sawed points until an East Peoria serving error was followed by consecutive winning swings by Jacobs and Rambo.

“Not having Mya really be able to play other than a couple of points and starting a rotation that isn’t our norm so the six seniors could start was definitely a huge factor in us being out of sync,” Streator coach Julie Gabehart said. “It took us a while, but I was really happy with how we adapted to everything tonight. We were a little scrambled, especially in the first set, but I felt like we started to play more and more consistent throughout the second and third sets.

“It was special all six seniors all got to start, and they all did a great job of leading and finding a way to bounce back after a tough first set.”

Streator plays Tuesday when it travels to Wilmington to close out the Illinois Central Eight Conference and regular-season schedule.