L-P dethrones 4-time Interstate 8 Conference girls volleyball champion Kaneland

LA SALLE – A big crowd showed up for La Salle-Peru senior night hoping to see the Cavaliers dethrone four-time reigning Interstate 8 Conference girls volleyball champion Kaneland, and they did not leave disappointed.

The Cavaliers came away with a 25-20, 25-16 victory to gain the outright conference title and end an eight-match losing streak to the Knights. It’s L-P’s first conference title since 2019.

“This was huge to come away with a win tonight,” Anna Riva said. “I didn’t realize it was eight in a row that we had lost to them, but we just came together and got the win tonight. It feels great.”

L-P started out strong with a stuff from Ava Currie and then a big kill from Aubrey Duttlinger along with a couple of rotation violations for an 8-4 lead.

The Knights responded in a big way, however. Aubrey Peters got a kill to fall after a couple of shots sailed long, then served an ace.

Grace Remsen and Abigail Carter teamed up for a block, then Peters served two more aces as Kaneland reeled off a 7-0 run to take an 11-8 lead.

After an L-P timeout, Peters had a service error before Currie and Riva teamed up for a block that got the Cavs started.

“I thought our play at the net was tremendous tonight,” L-P coach Mark Haberkorn said. “During the timeout we didn’t say anything big or anything in particular. We just said settle it down, and then we really started to play well at the net. I think that was a reason some of Kaneland’s shots started to sail long, and it got us rolling.”

Riva then slammed down a big shot before Currie and Riva again got a block as L-P went on a 7-1 run to take a 15-12 advantage.

After a tip from Kayli Loonam, Riva once again had a kill, and two plays later Duttlinger followed with one of her own. After a couple of mishits from Kaneland, L-P’s lead grew to 20-15 after another 6-1 run.

A couple of shots sailed long on L-P as the Knights closed the gap to 23-20, but back-to-back hitting errors into the net by the Knights gave the Cavs the 25-20 first-set victory.

“Throughout the night we were also getting tremendous digs from several players, including Callie Mertes, who had nine big digs tonight,” Haberkorn said. “It keeps things alive and sets up the offense nicely.”

L-P started out the second set right where it left off as the Cavs scored the first four points as Riva continued her solid night with a shot that went off the Kaneland defenders.

Emma Jereb then followed with an ace before Currie and Riva once again had a big block at the net.

After a service error from Jereb, Riva hit a kill down the line for a sideout. With L-P leading 7-3, the Cavs’ presence at the net forced two more errors by the Knights as the lead grew to 9-3.

Remsen did her best to keep the Knights in the game as she slapped a kill that found a hole in the middle of the Cavs’ defense.

It did little to slow down the Cavs. Duttlinger quickly got the momentum right back with a kill into the corner of the Kaneland defense, and after two more errors, L-P led 12-6.

The teams traded a pair of errors before Riva righted the ship with a kill. Two plays later, Currie dialed up one of her own to push L-P’s lead to 17-9.

After a Kaneland timeout, Peters blasted a shot down the center of the court and Janesa Winston served an ace to cut the deficit to 18-11.

But as they did all night, the Cavs had an answer. Currie started with a kill, and moments later Duttlinger slammed down back-to-back kills to put L-P comfortably ahead 21-12.

Riva had two big stuffs, then on the match’s final play, Currie and Emma Zborowski teamed up for a block to seal the victory and the conference title.

“You know it wasn’t just us that Kaneland has been beating,” Haberkorn said with a laugh. “They haven’t just won four in a row. They’ve lost [only three] conference matches during that time, so to get this is big. We have had some battles but just came up a little short.”

The Cavs (28-5) finish 9-1 in conference with the only loss a three-setter to Kaneland (22-12, 7-3) on Oct. 8.

“This was great to get this conference title,” Duttlinger said. “First time we played we were missing some players, but tonight we just really came together as a team and got the win.”

Jereb led the Cavs with 10 assists, while Duttlinger and Riva had seven kills each, and Currie added five. Currie also led the Cavs with four blocks.

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Members of the L-P volleyball team hi-five each other after deteating Kaneland in two sets and win the Interstate Eight Conference in AJ Sellett Gymnasium on Thursday, Oct. 24, 2024 at L-P High School. (Scott Anderson)