Girls volleyball: Sophomores lead Providence Catholic to first sectional title in 22 years

KANKAKEE – When Providence Catholic’s control of Wednesday’s match seemed to be slipping away, a sophomore righted the ship and calmed the team down.

Then another sophomore finished off the Celtics’ first sectional championship in 22 years.

After some big serves from Delaney Purtill got Providence back on track, fellow sophomore Abbey Knight took over with four kills down the stretch in the second game as the top-seeded Celtics pulled out a 25-15, 25-23 win over sixth-seeded Marian Catholic in the Class 3A Kankakee Sectional championship match.

“I felt like me and [Purtill] looked at each other and were like, ‘We have to go, right now, this is our time,’” Knight said. “We had to win the sectional, which hasn’t been done in 22 years at our school, so this is a huge accomplishment.”

Knight had 11 kills, Demi Carbone – another sophomore – contributed five kills and 12 assists and Purtill added 14 assists and five aces for Providence (27-12), which will take on downstate Morton (29-7) in the Kankakee Supersectional at 6 p.m. Friday.

“It’s been a long time and probably too long for Celtic nation,” Providence coach Lee Rucinski said of the sectional title drought, which stretched back to 2001. “It’s my fourth year here and to do this in year four after three straight regionals, this is why I came here, to build something. We’ve been building every year with more wins, going further along, and now to see this push is what we’ve been looking for.”

For a while, it seemed like the sectional plaque would come Providence’s way fairly easily as the opening set was won routinely.

Marian (15-20), however, came out swinging in Game 2 and jumped out to a 13-5 lead.

“We were feeling the nerves a little bit, and obviously we had a slow start to that second set, but it was exciting to get back in it,” Purtill said. “We knew we could do it, and I think we got the momentum we needed.”

It was Purtill’s serving that gave the Celtics that momentum.

Providence reeled off an 8-0 run to pull even at 13, with the final seven points coming on Purtill’s serve, including three aces.

“We’ve been working on serving so much in practice this week, and I was just looking to go back there and put it where I needed to,” Putill said. “We knew where we needed to serve and who we needed to serve to. I hit them over and in and that’s what got us back up. It was exciting.”

Rucinski sure was proud.

“Delaney has been phenomenal, and it’s awesome to watch because that’s something she’s worked on since the summer,” Rucinski said. “If you told me in the summer that she was going to do that, I would have been like, ‘I don’t know if I can see that.’

“Give her credit because she’s worked as hard as she can to move it around and get to all the different zones. They were shifting on her, so let’s beat the shift.”

Purcill has been enjoying the playoff ride with her older sister, Grace, a senior middle blocker who had a kill Wednesday.

“It’s been awesome playing with my sister,” Delaney Purcill said. “I didn’t get to play with her last year because she was injured, so it’s been great having someone I’m so close with playing on the court with me and always having her by my side. I know she’s always got my back.”

Libero Megan Houlihan has been one of the senior leaders for the Celtics. She was there to encourage her teammates when Marian started fast in the second game.

“I try my best to pass but even if I’m not passing well, my No. 1 priority it just to get everybody up,” Houlihan said. “I always want to see everyone smiling. That’s my No. 1 goal.”

The Celtics have not been to state since 1995 and a win Friday would clinch the second state trophy in program history.

“We want to do it for the seniors,” Delaney Purtill said. “We know we can do it. We’ve been training all season, and we’re ready to go.”