Thursday's prep highlights: SJ-O wins 3-set marathon over BHRA

In volleyball

Cissna Park Tipoff

At Milford. Night two of the tournament featured three matches, two involving Milford (1-1). The Bearcats first beat Clifton 25-22, 25-19. They then fell to Bishop McNamara 25-12, 25-16.

Nontournament

Armstrong-Potomac 2, Rantoul 1. Tinley Parkerson and Carly Grant did a little bit of everything in the Trojans’ (2-1) 19-25, 25-16, 25-15 comeback win over the Eagles (0-2). Parkerson tallied 12 digs, nine assists, four kills and two aces while Grant had nine digs, eight assists, four aces and three kills. Ashlyn Ackerman and Isabel Bullington added six kills apiece for A-P.

Arthur-Lovington-Atwood-Hammond 2, Tuscola 0. The Knights (1-0) spread the offensive production around in their 25-18, 25-11 win against the Warriors (2-1), with Alayna Plank‘s 15 assists and Savannah Butcher‘s five kills leading the way. Karaline Vanausdoll paced the defense with five digs. Plank, Summer Melton and Mackenzie Condill each served up three aces. Carly Ochs led Tuscola’s offense with four kills, and Ava Rauguth contributed 10 digs and nine assists.

Attica (Ind.) 2, Hoopeston Area 0. The Cornjerkers (0-3) received four kills from Brylie Cox and three aces from Ava Taubert, but it wasn’t quiet enough in a 25-21, 25-16 loss.

Cerro Gordo/Bement 2, Uni High 0. The Broncos (1-2) found it smooth sailing against the Illineks (0-2) with a straight-set victory 25-17, 25-7.

Herscher 2, Prairie Central 1. Hawks coach Kirsten Smith said the end of this match had everyone in the gym on the edge of their seats. The Hawks (0-3) lost the first set 25-15, won the second 25-13 and lost a tough third 27-25. Miranda Hari led the effort with 12 kills and 18 digs. Kyah Creek tallied 21 assists and four aces, and Paige Young had 14 digs.

Heyworth 2, Oakwood 0. It was tough sledding for the Comets (0-2) in the first set, losing 25-12. They were more competitive in the second but still fell 25-21. Bella Bradford tallied four kills, Quinn Sperry had eight assists and four digs and Mady Nicoson added three aces.

Monticello 2, Maroa-Forsyth 1. The Sages (2-1) had to come back after dropping the first set, but they clawed their way to a 19-25, 25-22, 25-21 victory behind Sierrah Downey's 15 kills, Addison Finet's 21 assists and Pearl Glaze's four blocks.

Paxton-Buckley-Loda 2, Urbana 0. Ellie Dirks led the Panthers (3-0) with 13 kills. Aubrey Busboom assisted on 18 kills, Taryn Rock had six aces and Tanner Graham dug out five balls. The Tigers (1-1) were able to get two aces out of Sophia Sheyko-Frailey and a block from Valentina Gonzalez, but it couldn’t lead them to a win, as PBL took the match 25-13, 25-10.

St. Joseph-Ogden 2, Bismarck-Henning/Rossville-Alvin 1. A battle to the wire, The Spartans (2-1) claimed victory over the Blue Devils (0-2) after a marathon third set 26-24, 21-25, 31-29. Tinley Ideus led SJ-O with 13 kills and 17 digs. Ava Seggebruch tallied seven kills and seven digs, and Emma McKinney had 29 assists. Katie Ericksen recorded 15 digs, and Ally Schmitz had 11 of her own.

St. Thomas More 2, Champaign Central 1. After the Sabers (2-0) won the first set 25-20 and the Maroons (0-2) took the second 25-21, all things pointed toward a great finish. Instead, Central ran out of gas, and STM ran away with a 25-11 victory in the deciding third set. Addie Kerr‘s 17 assists were a big help for the Sabers, as were Shannon Monahan‘s eight kills and seven digs, Cassidy Monahan‘s five kills and four aces and Campbell Phillips‘ three blocks. Bridget Cassady and Sienna Zapparoli each had eight kills to lead the Maroons, and Ava Clark dished out 18 assists.

Tri-Point 2, Iroquois West 1. The Raiders (1-2) took the opening set 25-18 but dropped the next two 25-18, 25-15. Still, their defense was solid. Mayra Camarena led the way with 15 digs, and Leah Honeycutt had 11 digs and three aces.

Unity 2, Mattoon 0. The Rockets (2-1) got a bounceback win 25-13, 25-22. Ava Fenter and Shelby Smith each tallied five kills, and they combined for five aces. Lauren Shaw had nine assists and three aces.

Villa Grove 2, Georgetown-Ridge Farm 0. Both sets went down to the wire, but the Blue Devils (1-0) came away with both 25-23, 25-23. Carly Eads‘ 11 assists, Jobella Crafton‘s nine kills and Hayden Thomas‘ five digs helped Villa Grove to the win. In the loss, Milee Ellis smashed 10 kills and Rubyrae Fraser Soule had 19 assists for the Buffaloes (1-1).

Westville 2, Tri-County 0. Playing in place of injured setter Lainey Wichtowski, Gwen Bennett racked up 17 assists en route to a 25-11, 25-13 win for the Tigers (2-0). Ella Miller put up nine kills against the Titans (0-2), seven digs and three aces. Madelyn Doggett and Maddie Appl combined for 11 kills, and Lani Gondzur added six digs.

In boys’ soccer

Centennial 2, Mahomet-Seymour 2. All four goals came in the second half, but the game ended in a tie between the Chargers (0-0-1) and Bulldogs (0-0-1). CK Kavumvula and Tyler Luchinski scored for Centennial, with assists coming from Nemo McKissick and Aaron Kneller. Nathan Piercy recorded six saves in net.

Oakwood/Salt Fork 6, Watseka/Milford 0. A hat trick from Ethan Merritt led O/SF (2-0) to its second win. Adding to the goal-scoring, five of which came in the second half, were Trevor McCall, Aidan O’Brien and Connor Smith. Merritt, O’Brien, Macen Phillips and Jakob Rupp each recorded an assist. Rupp was also the winning goalkeeper with two saves. Despite the loss, Warrior (0-1) goalies Jason Moore and David Bell combined for 13 saves.

Uni High 5, St. Joseph-Ogden 2. Shabi Prasanth paced the Illineks (1-0) with two goals and an assist. Leor Gal had one goal and one assist, Yuto Inoue and Robert Tu each found the back of the net once, Aiden Kim had two assists and Josh Persiana added one assist. Goalie Muhammad Iftikhar got the win with six saves. Logan Mills and Zach Harper scored for the Spartans (1-2), and goalie Jaxon Colvin grabbed eight saves.

Urbana 2, Fisher/Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley 1. Winner Nana and Anthony Becerril found the back of the net to give the Tigers (2-0) the win. Jevan Juday saved four Fisher/GCMS (0-1) shots in net. David Hull scored the Bunnies' lone goal, and goalkeeper Parker Baillie had 10 saves.

In boys’ golf

At Moweaqua. Sullivan outdueled Meridian and Shelbyville to earn a match win with a team score of 169. Camden Watkins‘ round of 40 led the Redskins and earned him medalist honors. Also scoring for Sullivan were Cameron Crowe with a 41, Drew Woolen with a 43 and Caden Saul with a 45.

At Rantoul. Bismarck-Henning/Rossville-Alvin was able to nab a match win at Brookhill Golf Course, with the Blue Devils’ 190 besting Armstrong-Potomac’s 199 and Oakwood’s 237. Cruz Dubois shot a 45 to lead BHRA and earn medalist honors. Bowen Hesterberg led the Trojans with a 46, and Rudy Hunsberger paced the Comets with a 55.

At Saybrook. Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley edged out Heyworth (191), Ridgeview (194) and Lexington (202) with a team score of 184. Carter Eichelberger led the Falcons with a round of 40, followed by Will Baillie‘s 45 and Jesse Watterson’s 47.

At Sheldon. Iroquois West and Milford competed with Donovan. The Raiders were able to win the match with a team score of 200. The Bearcats didn't post a team score, but Hixon Lafond shot a 51, and Isaac Schaumburg shot a 57.

In girls’ golf

At Beecher. Watseka eked out a three-shot win over Grant Park and was up on Beecher by five strokes. Ainsley Urban led the way for the Warriors with a round of 56.

At Champaign. St. Thomas More’s Ashley Wells won low medalist with a 43, but it was Sullivan coming away with a 10-stroke win over the Sabers. Shae Ellis and Devon Richardson led the Redskins with a pair of 48s.

At Rantoul. While the Oakwood golfers couldn’t post an official team score, Armstrong-Potomac saw a pair of 67s from Chelsea Suits and Ryah Peters in their nine-hole match at Brookhill Golf Course.

At Saybrook. Talk about consistency. Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley beat Heyworth 224-264 thanks to scores of 55 by Lizzie Giroux, Anna Warren and Lilyan Sizemore.

Zach Piatt