Timothy Christian bounces back, defeats El Paso-Gridley in straight sets to take 3rd place in Class 2A

NORMAL – Timothy Christian libero Miriam Pozdol-Niego follows the same game plan whenever she gets the ball to serve.

As soon as the ball gets into her hands, the senior jogs all the way back, as far as she can and looks back to the court and then to the bench where her sister, Ria Pozdol-Niego, sits.

And with the Trojans already up a set and leading 22-15 in the second over El Paso-Gridley in the Class 2A third-place match at Illinois State’s CEFCU Arena, Miriam Pozdol-Niego made sure to keep the same routine to end her high school career.

She jogged back, turned to the court and served the ball.

And each time, it resulted as an ace.

“I just knew that this was it. I had nothing left to lose,” Miriam Pozdol-Niego said. “Those were my last three serves. I don’t even remember them.”

The libero’s aces ended up being the finishing touch that Timothy Christian needed in order to win third place in Class 2A, securing a straight-set victory 25-20, 25-15 over El Paso to tie their best finish at state in program history.

“We had our struggles Friday, but the girls came ready to play and put it all out there. They knew it was the last one, but they did it for each other too,” head coach Scott Piersma said. “We’re happy to leave with a win. It may not have been the one they wanted when they first came down here, but it’s still a win.”

After suffering their first loss since Aug. 28 in the state semifinals, Piersma said that he reminded the team that they can finish the season the right way – in the win column. And of all things, the time of Friday’s match also helped his team calm their nerves and refocus on getting a win.

“Playing at noon is such a weird time,” Piersma said. “But we were talking with the coaches, and at the same time, you are not going to bed angry. You have time to decompress. You have time to think and reflect and let it go and refocus for the next match.”

That refocusing could be seen by the Trojans’ net play against the Titans. After struggling to get their attackers working against Bloomington Central Catholic, Timothy Christian wasted no time getting senior outside hitter Abby VanderWal started.

The Texas commit put away the first set after putting down the hammer for four of the Trojans’ final five points of the set. VanderWal finished out her high school career with a 12-kill performance to lead the way.

“Timothy is like my home, and these last four years have been so special to me in so many ways,” VanderWal said. “I couldn’t be more grateful for coach Piersma and the assistant coaches for always encouraging me in my volleyball journey.”

After that, the Trojans opened the ball up to the junior duo of outside hitter Bella Potempa (eight kills) and middle Ella Rickert (seven kills). Piersma said that after struggling to find the balance in the semifinals, he wanted the team to make the most out of their size advantage over the Titans.

“Our middles struggled to get going in the semifinals, just because we couldn’t get the ball where we wanted off the pass, which was frustrating for them,” Piersma said. “But we told them, if we get that ball, go in and we’ll get you the ball, because we’ll be able to take advantage of our size in the middle – or even moving our outsides around and bringing them in the middle to get them on a little bit of smaller hands.”

The win marks the end of a historic season for the Trojans, who finished with a program-best 39 wins, including 38 in a row. Their third-place finish at state also ties for the best in program history after also placing third in 2015.

But even with four seniors graduating, including VanderWal, Piersma said he’s excited to run it back next season.

“We had our streak stopped in the semifinals, but here you go ladies,” Piersma addressed to the team. “This is win No. 1 of the new streak. We’ll keep it going next year.”