Mahomet-Seymour Volleyball Faces No. 1 Normal U-High for Sectional Title Showdown
By FRED KRONER
Mahomet-Seymour Volleyball
Two of the state’s best Class 3A volleyball teams will take the court at Mahomet-Seymour on Thursday (Nov. 7) at 6 p.m.
The host Bulldogs, ranked fourth in Illinois by Maxpreps, will face top-rated Normal University High in an IHSA sectional championship match.
Both schools enter the finals with 35-3 overall season records. M-S has won 15 consecutive matches. U-High has won its last seven.
The two programs are not postseason strangers.
This is the fifth straight year – that the IHSA has conducted a postseason series – for M-S and U-High battling one another.
The previous three meetings were all in regional championship showdowns. U-High won each, with the last two requiring three sets.
In 2020, the IHSA canceled the postseason due to COVID-19. In 2019, when the sectional was at M-S, U-High ended the Bulldogs’ season in the semifinals.
M-S got over the semifinal hurdle on Tuesday (Nov. 5), handling 30-win Apollo Conference foe Taylorville for the third time this season, 25-12, 25-20.
Ellie Barker pounded 12 kills to lead the way against the Tornadoes. Ava Yeakel slammed nine kills.
Lily Bosworth finished with six kills. Bosworth also had three blocks.
The hitters benefited from the setting prowess of Erin Dallas (14 assists) and Ellie Dallas (10 assists).
The team’s defensive leaders were Addi Eisenmann and Yeakel (each with seven digs). Erin Dallas had three digs.
The Maxpreps state rankings include a grouping for schools, regardless of class. U-High is rated eighth among all Illinois high schools and M-S is ranked 18th.
Other highly regarded schools from Class 3A are St. Laurence (11th) and Wheaton St. Francis (15th).
Thursday’s winner will advance into an Elite Eight super-sectional contest at Effingham on Monday (Nov. 11) against the winner of the Salem Sectional.
M-S is seeking its fourth sectional championship ever in volleyball, but the first since 1984.
