Henry takes its ‘Revenge Tour’ to sectional

Motivation can carry a team and athletes a long way.

It’s carried the Henry-Senachwine volleyball team to its first regional championship in 14 years.

The Mallards defeated host St. Bede for the Class 1A regional title 25-23, 25-19 Thursday night and upset Seneca for the Tri-County Conference Tournament championship before that, two teams that had beaten them earlier this season.

The Mallards (29-7) hope to continue that trend when they face Brimfield at 7 p.m. Tuesday in the Williamsfield Sectional. The Indians beat the Mallards 25-17, 17-25, 15-13 at the Midland Tournament on Sept. 14.

“We call it the revenge tour because who we have in front of us is people that have already beat us earlier in the season. So we’re coming back for them, basically,” senior captain Lauren Harbison said.

Senior captain Kaitlyn Anderson said the Mallards go in with a lot of confidence.

“We’ve definitely looked ahead and see who we have, and I think we can take it,” she said. “I’m just excited to get started. Definitely going to be nerve-racking, but I think we’re ready.”

Coach Self nets 200th win

Thursday’s win was not only Henry’s first regional championship since 2010, but it was also the 200th career victory for coach Rita Self in 17 seasons as head coach at Henry.

She was head coach from 2003-11, and after a three-year stint as JV coach, she returned to her varsity post in 2017.

“It feels great to have 200 wins. To do it at the regional championship makes it that much sweeter,” Self said. “It is the cherry on top after many years put into the program at various levels.”

Kaitlyn Anderson gives their coach all the credit for getting them where they are.

“She’s an amazing coach. We are so lucky to have her,” she said. “She’s a huge reason we succeed in everything we do. She believes in us all the time. She’s our biggest supporter and definitely deserves the recognition for 200 wins. It’s a big deal.”

Self also coached at the junior high from 2011-17 and started the Henry Heat Club Volleyball Team in spring 2016.

“I definitely saw the value in developing the skills at the lower levels,” Self said. “Many of the players I have now are a product of the club program we began in 2015-16. After having my daughter play for one year at Eastside Club Volleyball in Peoria, I talked with the director there and decided our community could benefit from a local program and decided to offer an Eastside Club Volleyball Expansion Team in Henry.

“The juniors and seniors playing for me now were in second and third grade at the time. Our school is now reaping the benefits of the volunteer coaches/parents that embraced the idea of a local volleyball club program nine years ago along with junior high coaches who also bought into what we were working to accomplish.”

Lucky Mallards tattoo

After winning the regional championship, the Henry players unveiled a secret to their success. Each lifted their jerseys to show their lucky Mallards temporary tattoo compliments of the Anderson sisters’ mom, Erika.

“They say, ‘We can, we will,’” Kaitlyn Anderson said. “We’re really big on affirmations. Our coach thinks of them all the time. She says them before every game. It’s just kind of a thing we do.”

“We had it for Tri-County, so we thought we’d bring it back out tonight,” Harbison said.

Then there’s the fortune cookie that Henry junior Maya Johnson recently uncovered that predicted good fortune.

“She has a secret fortune cookie that says, ‘You will win in the future,’” Kaitlyn Anderson. “We had orange chicken at school the day before our Tri-County game, and she’s worn [the fortune] in her shoe every game since. We just have a lot of little things we do as a team. It just kind of makes it special.

“We have a lot of inside jokes. We’re all really close. Everything we say has a little meaning to it, even if it’s silly.”

Success breeds success

Several members of the Henry volleyball team also played a big role in delivering the Mallards’ first regional softball championship since 2006 in the spring, defeating Annawan-Wethersfield 2-0.

Harbison was the Mallards’ pitcher and Kaitlyn Anderson their catcher and an Illinois Coaches Association Class 1A All-State second-team selection.

Senior Lexi Serpette and juniors Brooklynn Thompson, Rachel Eckert and Harper Schrock and sophomores Brynna Anderson and Grace Anderson also play softball and volleyball. Serpette participated in a third sectional with the cross country team.