Providence comes up just short in loss to Limestone at Class 3A Pontiac Supersectional

PONTIAC – For the second straight season, Providence Catholic’s volleyball season came to an end in a Class 3A supersectional Monday night, as the Celtics suffered a 25-23, 25-23 defeat against Bartonville Limestone in Pontiac.

Between hitting errors, serving errors and net violations, the Celtics (30-10), who won their second straight sectional title, were guilty of 33 unforced errors.

“You can’t have 33 unforced errors in a supersectional,” Providence coach Lee Rucinski said. “But it has been our m.o. all season. We kind of live and die with unforced errors, and we made too many tonight. Give credit to Limestone. They capitalized on our errors and didn’t let us get a run going.”

The first set started eerily similar to last week’s sectional championship, when the Celtics fell behind 7-1 to Evergreen Park only to rally and win the match in two sets. This time, Providence spotted the Rockets (31-9), who will play Prairie Ridge in the Class 3A State semifinals 5:30 p.m. Friday at CEFCU Arena in Normal, a 17-9 lead, only to rally and tie it at 23. The Celtics were actually behind 23-20 before kills by Abbey Knight, Cali Tierney and Demi Carbone tied it. However, a Providence hitting error gave Limestone a 24-23 lead, and the Rockets’ Ella Karmenzind ended the set with a kill.

Knight led Providence with 14 kills, Tierney had four and Carbone had three. Carbone and Delany Purtill each had 11 assists, while Tierney and Maddie Johnson each had two aces.

“Limestone hadn’t been to a supersectional for a while and we were in one last year,” Rucinski said. “I would have thought that they would have some nerves and we would be ready to play, but it was the other way around. They came to play and we were a little nervous early. It took us halfway through the first set for us to get our footing.

“After going through some serving and hitting errors, we finally caught them at 23, but we couldn’t finish it. Whenever we would seem to grab some momentum, they did a good job of getting it back.”

The second set was tighter all the way through, and Providence settled down enough to grab a 10-8 lead before five straight Limestone points gave the Rockets an 13-10 lead. The Celtics tied it at 15 after an ace by Johnson and the set was then tied at 16, 17, 18, 19, 20 and 21 before Tierney delivered a kill and then an ace to put her team ahead 23-21. Unfortunately for the Celtics, that was the last time they scored as Limestone ended it on a 4-0 run, capped by a kill by Karmenzind.

“Winning back-to-back sectionals with this team was the best feeling,” said Knight, who will return next season along with a majority of the Providence roster. “We were so close, and I think we got a little nervous. It was just a mental block that stopped us from executing.

“We were down big against Evergreen Park, so we knew we could do it, but we weren’t able to tonight. This will definitely drive me during club season to work my butt off. I don’t want to feel this way next year.”

While disappointed in the loss, Rucinski was optimistic about the state of the program.

“We had a heck of a year,” he said. “And the program is in a wonderful place. Almost everyone is coming back next year, and I hope this leaves a bad taste in the mouths of the girls coming back. Next year is their last year, so the clock is ticking.”