Prairie Ridge falls to Limestone in Class 3A state semifinals, will play for 3rd place

NORMAL – Another Fox Valley Conference coach earlier this season summed up Prairie Ridge in one word: relentless.

It’s a quality that led the Wolves to their first state tournament appearance since 2018 – and fourth overall.

On Friday, however, it was Prairie Ridge’s opponent that showed an unwillingness to give in.

The top-seeded Wolves fell to No. 2 Limestone 25-18, 25-15 in a Class 3A state semifinal at Illinois State’s CEFCU Arena, ending a seven-match winning streak that included a three-set, come-from-behind win over St. Francis during Monday’s supersectional after their worst set loss of the year.

“Mentality,” Wolves first-year coach Hilary Agnello said of what was the difference Friday. “I think physically, we are way more gifted. I think it was all mentality. I’ve never seen us unable to get it together for an entire match. I know that sounds negative, but that’s the truth.

“We had a quote where another [FVC] coach called us relentless. And in this case I felt that was reversed. We felt what it was like to have a team come after you. I think they were shocked at how much they were going to have to work.”

Prairie Ridge (27-14) will face No. 2 DePaul Prep, which fell to Mahomet-Seymour in two sets in the first semifinal, at 4 p.m. Saturday for third place. The Wolves’ previous best finish was second in 2004 and 2005 in AA. Six years ago, the Wolves took fourth in 4A.

Prairie Ridge only led once against Limestone (31-10) – on the first point of the match on an attack error by the Rockets. Sophomore outside hitter Maizy Agnello picked up the first four kills of the match for the Wolves, who trailed 11-10 in the first set following a kill by sophomore middle blocker Adeline Grider (three kills).

The Rockets came back with a 9-4 run to grab a 20-14 lead and control of the opening set. Limestone sophomore outside hitter-setter Mia Lamberti posted four straight points at one point and led everyone with 15 kills.

Hilary Agnello felt Limestone won the match on the strength of its setting. The Wolves’ block, which was key in getting them to state, had trouble Friday.

“They just kept going,” Grider said. “We would get an an amazing point and the next point they would pound one back at us. It was hard to get ourselves out of that hole that we created. It was hard to get that momentum back.”

Prairie Ridge went down 6-0 in the second set and could not recover.

Hilary Agnello felt her team was well prepared, despite the final result.

“I don’t believe that it was the environment,” Hilary Agnello said. “I don’t think they were nervous. I think they were appropriately excited. I think they were appropriately prepared.”

Senior setter Grace Jansen said the team felt some nerves after the opening set.

Still, after coming back to beat St. Francis in three sets Monday, the Wolves didn’t feel out of it.

“We were anxious after that first set” Jansen said. “We felt like we could come back like we did against St. Francis, but, obviously, we didn’t have that same mentality.”

Maizy Agnello, who led the Wolves with eight kills, teared up when asked about playing for her mom. She called her mom – a former national champion at Penn State – “one of the most educated people in the sport.”

“It’s a really cool experience and it’s very unique experience,” Maizy Agnello said. “We talked all season of, ‘Oh, we’re going to state. We can do this, we can get to that end point,’ and we got here and it was very surreal. We obviously haven’t played in a gym this big, but I don’t think that’s why it ended the way it [did].”

Jansen posted eight assists and six digs for the Wolves, and sophomore outside hitter Tegan Vrbancic and senior libero Alli Rogers recorded four digs apiece. Junior setter Addison Smith had six assists. Prairie Ridge didn’t have any aces.

Senior Jada Hoyt had three kills and a block in the loss. The Wolves middle blocker has been playing with a pair of ruptured ligaments in her right ankle suffered earlier in the season. She had to choose between getting surgery or waiting when the injury happened in August.

She chose to wait.

“I chose to get it later to extend my high school season, just because I knew what coach Hilary was capable of,” Hoyt said. ”I knew the bond we had as a team and I knew how far we could go. It was a no-brainer. I’m so glad I made that decision.”