Mahomet-Seymour Volleyball Makes History: Bulldogs Capture First State Title in Epic Comeback
By FRED KRONER
Mahomet-Seymour’s volleyball team endured an extended round of drama in the early evening hours of Saturday (Nov. 16).
It was not the kind of internal strife which can tear a team part. It was the kind that kept their boisterous fans in a constant state of frenzy from one play to the next.
Playing for the state championship in the IHSA’s Class 3A Division at Illinois State University’s CEFCU Center, the Bulldogs lost the first set to an opponent they had beaten twice this season, Bartonville Limestone.
That started the drama.
It continued as the pivotal second set progressed.
M-S fell behind, 10-7, 17-9 and 19-11 in a chase to reach the desired 25-point mark.
With their backs against the wall, with their fans hoarse from extended cheering, the Bulldogs proceeded to mount an epic comeback.
The school they beat in September and the school they defeated in October soon became the team they beat in November to end the season.
Mahomet-Seymour’s 22-25, 25-22, 25-18 championship-match win over Limestone is not only the first trophy in volleyball for the school, but also the first state title by any public school in the sport in Champaign County. (St. Thomas More earned state titles in 2017 and 2021.)
The words that libero Addi Eisenmann spoke moments after the two-set Friday semifinal win over Chicago DePaul Prep were even more appropriate 24 hours later.
“We’re livin’ the dream,” Eisenmann said.
The Bulldogs ended their most historic season ever with a 19-match winning streak and a school-record 39-3 overall record.
The capper came after an M-S serve by Kennedy Kimball with the Bulldogs holding a 24-18 third-set lead. The Limestone set was pushed to the left side, where Hannah West was at the 10-foot line.
Her hit got to the net, where Bulldog blockers Lily Bosworth and Addy Reigart were positioned, but the ball did not make it over and fell back on the Rockets’ side, starting the massive M-S celebration.
The marathon match required an hour and 17 minutes to determine a winner.
Bulldog coach Stan Bergman feared that the match might start out in the manner that it did.
“The team, in the first set, assumed we could win based on the fact we had beaten them twice earlier,” Bergman said, “and weren’t working very hard.
“That mentality carried over into the second set.”
Bergman called his final timeout.
“I said, ‘This is it,’ and called out a couple of players,” he said. “It was definitely not the team we had seen in the other six postseason matches or the last two weeks of the regular season.”
Ellie Barker said familiarity with the opponent was one factor.
“It helped that we had played them in the past and knew what they would do,” Barker said, “but they knew what we would do, too.”
Ellie Dallas said the M-S team was conditioned as much mentally as physically.
“We’ll have rough games,” she said. “We have to have grit and push through them.”
When the squad regrouped on the floor, Dallas added a final message: “I said, ‘This could be our last set. Let’s play as a team, and not individuals.’”
The Bulldogs reeled off six consecutive points to narrow their deficit to 19-17.
Barker did not know how dire the situation looked when Bergman used his last timeout.
“When I’m playing, I try not to look at the score,” she said. “I was not aware of the score at that point, until someone told me later.
“Bergman told us he can’t control what happens on the court. We realized the game is in our hands. It all relies on us and that flipped a switch.”
Moments later, trailing 20-18, M-S pulled even. Hannah Martin had a kill and then supplied the tying point on a solo block.
The Ellie Dallas-to-Ava Yeakel combination worked for kills that lifted the Bulldogs into leads of 21-20 and 22-21.
That was followed by an Erin Dallas service ace before back-to-back kills by Yeakel secured the last two points needed to win the state title.
“I’m beyond proud of every teammate,” Ellie Dallas said. “At the beginning of the season, we didn’t think we could accomplish this big goal.”
Barker led the Bulldogs with 15 kills. Both Bosworth and Yeakel pounded 13 kills apiece. Martin contributed four kills.
Barker was a special player at a special time.
“She played extremely well and was super-consistent,” Bergman said. “Her consistency was a good backbone for all of the girls to jump on.
“When she got on a run serving (with the team down 19-11 in the second set), it gave us a little hope. Ellie had an incredible championship match. Then Ava and Lily clicked into gear.”
Ellie Dallas distributed 19 assists and sister Erin Dallas had 16 assists. Eisenmann doled out four assists, including one to Yeakel for the 25th point to complete the second-set comeback.
Ellie Dallas and Eisenmann both had 13 digs in a match where all 10 Bulldogs who took the court finished with at least one dig.
Bosworth was in on four blocks and Reigart had three blocks.
Barker recalled the team’s goals that were established three months earlier.
“We had three goals,” she said, “to get a certain number of wins (30), to win three tournaments and to win a regional.
“We didn’t set our goals as high as we reached, but this is amazing. There’s not a better way to go out.”
The Bulldog group that started practices in August might not have been capable of what the team that played in November was able to achieve.
“We’ve grown a lot,” Ellie Dallas said. “We were not as connected as much as now.
“Our communication was very low. We’ve done a lot of team bonding.”
Bergman explained how this year’s M-S team was different than the first one he guided to state, his 2012 Champaign Centennial squad.
“That team had nine seniors and eight had college scholarships,” he said. “When you know you have talent at that caliber, the expectation is to get to state.
“This year, we didn’t know what the cap was. We knew we had a big stumbling block in (Normal) U-High (which had eliminated M-S in four straight postseasons).
“Getting past them was a huge accomplishment. From then on, it was all added icing. “
The state crown, he said, was “a nice surprise and it snuck up on us. This is definitely one for the memories and one for relief all at the same time.”
The Bulldogs never trailed Limestone by more than a point in the tiebreaking final set.
The team’s last deficit (7-6) was erased by back-to-back kills by Barker.
Eisenmann said the Bulldogs weren’t intimidated by the surroundings or fearful of any opponent.
“We walked in full of confidence,” she said. “We were here for a reason.”
Amid the post-match celebrations – which included a police escort to the high school – Barker reflected on the accomplishment.
“It’s bittersweet,” Barker said. “It’s amazing and a team I will never forget, but I thought the season is over and this is the last high school game I will ever play with all of my best friends.”
In its second match of the season, M-S dropped a three-set decision to Champaign Central.
The Bulldogs played eight more three-set matches for the year and came out victorious each time.
“Most of us had never had an experience like this,” Bosworth said. “We will all hold onto this forever because you can’t forget a moment like this.
“We’re all such good friends. We don’t want it to end.”
Added Barker: “The bond this team has is like no other. We had so much fight.”
Swift semifinal sweep
The Bulldogs needed just 48 minutes to dispatch Chicago DePaul Prep, 25-18, 25-22 in the semifinals on Friday (Nov. 15).
Both schools entered that showdown with 37-3 season records and were first-time state-qualifiers.
Barker said M-S assistant coach Leah Rippy Davis helped the team keep the situation in perspective.
“She told us the court was the same dimensions (as at home), everything was the same and just go out and play,” Barker said.
Bergman said at times it’s tough to determine whether his players are exhibiting nervous energy or are hyped up and ready to play.
“You can never tell,” Bergman said. “They constantly force themselves into hype-up mode, but is it to hide nervousness?
“Some people get too worked up and some people don’t get worked up enough. This team has been able to find a really good balance.”
Eisenmann said there was no question in her mind that the team was ready to go in its state debut. Their pre-game noisy level of exuberance told the story.
“We were being hushed by the people who escorted us (from the locker room to the court),” Eisenmann said.
Barker said the team feeds off the excitement and enthusiasm of others.
“We knew Mahomet would have a big fan base and be energetic,” Barker said.
DePaul held leads early in both games, but the M-S players didn’t get flustered. The key was simple.
“Mentally, we had to keep focused and keep pushing,” Eisenmann said. “We knew they were a good team and it wasn’t going to be 25-0.”
Coaching his third different high school to state, Bergman was well aware that there are no givens at the highest level of competition.
“I knew we had a shot,” he said, “but anyone here could compete well here.”
Of the 10 Bulldogs who rotate in and out regularly, six are underclassmen.
It is a nucleus that has improved and continued to click together as the season progressed.
It was a team that evolved from month to month, starting with the preseason workouts in August.
While Bergman saw potential, it was production from those wearing the uniforms that needed to happen.
“I knew we had nice pieces,” he said, “but these are 16- and 17-year-olds. Sometimes they believe you. Sometimes they don’t.”
“We talked about how good teams can become great teams and great teams can become elite teams,” Bergman said. “To become an elite team, you have to be able to balance that mentality we played with.
“To get to this point (state finals), you have to have the mental edge. I’m so happy that these young ladies were able to grind it out.”
DePaul, who settled for fourth place after a loss to Crystal Lake Prairie Ridge on Saturday, was impressed by the Bulldogs.
“They played very clean and were definitely one of the most competitive matches we’ve played,” head coach Caroline Gajzler said. “Maybe it was the moment, or the large arena, but we did some things that were uncharacteristic of our team.”
Added DePaul senior Amira Bodine: “They kept their confidence and didn’t seem nervous or jittery. They played pretty even.
“We knew they worked as hard as us to get here.”
Bosworth and Yeakel shared the team-lead with nine kills in the semifinals. Barker landed eight kills.
Ellie Dallas handed out 16 assists and Erin Dallas totaled 13 assists.
Ellis Dallas was making sets from all parts of the court.
“She is super-quick, super-smart, super-aggressive and super-competitive,” Bergman said. “She wants to give everything she has.”
Eisenmann recorded a match-high 22 digs (just 10 fewer than DePaul’s entire team). Yeakel had nine digs and Ellie Dallas had eight digs.
Bosworth was in on three blocks.
The match started with DePaul serving to the Bulldogs and Erin Dallas setting Bosworth. The 6-foot-4 junior pounded the ball down on the first swing of the match.
“We’ve told the setters we have to get Lily established early (in the middle),” Bergman said. “That allows us to be able to set the outsides and be more creative where we put the ball.”
Limestone finishes the season with a record of 32-10. The Rockets had won eight matches in a row since their last loss, on Oct. 19, to M-S.
To put Mahomet-Seymour’s school-record 39-win total in perspective, consider:
The IHSA limits schools to 35 regular-season matches. A two-match regional would then be followed by a two-match sectional. If a future Bulldog team went unbeaten through the sectionals, they would also need a win at the super-sectional to break the mark for single-season wins.
The 2024 M-S volleyball team has established a level of excellence that will be hard to surpass.
The team that was the best in the state in Class 3A this year, may well go down as the best-ever at the high school.
The Bulldogs’ state roster featured five seniors, five juniors, two sophomores and three freshmen.
The seniors are Ellie Barker, Ellie Dallas, Addi Eisenmann, Kennedy Kimball and Annika McNaught.
The juniors are Lily Bosworth, Erin Dallas, Addy Reigart, Anna Streicher and Ava Yeakel.
The sophomores are Hannah Martin and Emma Scott.
The freshmen are Penelope Bird, Pfeifer Manuel and Charlotte Sinclair.
Bergman doesn’t see a drop-off in talent any time soon.
The freshmen group is coming off a state appearance as eighth-graders, and the current eighth-grade squad is one which Bergman said, “I’m super-thrilled to coach.”
