Griffins defeat Gibault 25-22, 25-23 to win sectional, move to Friday's super-sectional

Colin Feeney, Contributing Sports Writer

Nov 1, 2018 5:30 AM

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VALMEYER – The girls’ volleyball team at Father McGivney Catholic continued its historic run Wednesday night with its 25-22, 25-23 win over Waterloo Gibault Catholic in the final of the Valmeyer sectional in the IHSA Class 1A tournament.

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The Griffins, who improved to 23-12, advanced to the school’s first-ever super sectional contest in any sport on Friday night. They’ll go up against Grayville, who won the Thompsonville sectional with a 26-24. 25-20 win over Norris City-Omaha-Enfield, at Okawville, with the match starting at 6 p.m. The Hawks end their season at 20-15

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In the first game, the Griffins built up a 12-4 lead, then extended it to 21-8 before Gibault reeled off 10 unanswered points to cut the gap to 21-18 before an Emma Deist kill stopped the string and made it 22-19. The Hawks got to within one twice more before McGivney took charge and won the first game 25-22.

The second game was a see-saw affair, where neither team was able to go on an extended run and pull away. There was never more than a two-point lead for either team in the game, and with the Hawks leading 23-22, McGivney tied the game after an error, then went ahead on a combined block from Taylor Schwab and Anna McKee. A Megan Smith service ace gave the Griffins the 25-23 win and the sectional title.

Deist lead the way for McGivney with six kills on the night, while Anna McKee had 13 blocks and Madison Webb had nine. Clair McKee had eight assists on the night, with Caitlyn Pendall contributing six. Macy Hoppes had 23 digs for the Griffins.

The Griffins-Bison winner on Friday night will advance to the state semifinals against the winner of the Elgin Westminster Christian super-sectional, either Durand or Newark, in a 9 a.m. match Nov. 9 at Redbird Arena on the campus of Illinois State University in Bloomington-Normal. The winner plays for the state championship Nov. 10 at approximately 10:30 a.m., while the third and fourth place playoff match will be played at 9 a.m.

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