Chester takes Lady Hornets to 3 sets, but falls 18-25, 25-21, and 21-25
By Jim Beers
CHESTER – The Chester High School Lady Jackets Volleyball Team played Carlyle in the first round of the 2023 IHSA Class 2A Nashville Regional Volleyball Tournament.
The Lady Jacket Volleyball Team poses for a team photo when they won the 2023 Trico Tournament in September. This very talented group of girls ended their 2023 season Monday October 23 when thy fell to Carlyle in the 2023 IHSA Class 2A Regional Tournament. The Jackets ended their very successful season with an overall record of 24 wins and just 10 losses. They just missed winning the 2023 Cahokia Conference Illinois Division Championship by one tight game against Red Bud. Pictured (Front row, left to right): Joella Eggemeyer, Alexis Eggemeyer, Grace Welborn, Ellen McCormick, Camryn Wolff, Liberty McCormick, and Elaina Lutman. (Back row, left to right): Alyssa Keith, Assistant Coach, Mabry Wingerter, Jordan Buskohl, Maggie Caby, Jasemine “Jazzi: Meridth, Colleen Runge, Hrad Coach, and Rese Chandler, Volunteer Assistant Coach. Photo provided
The 6-team regional included Breese Mater Dei, Carlyle, Chester, Columbia, Nashville and Sparta.
Monday October 23 featured Match 1: Carlyle vs Chester and Match 2: Nashville vs Sparta.
Carlyle defeated Chester 25-18, 21-25, and 25-21. Nashville defeated Sparta, 25-10 and 25-15.
Tuesday October 24 featured Match 3: Breese Mater Dei vs Carlyle and Match 4: Columbia vs Nashville.
Breese Mater Dei defeated Carlyle, 25-11 and 25-11. Columbia defeated Nashville, 25-19 and 25-18.
Thursday October 26 at 6:00 p.m. No. 2 Breese Mater Dei will face No. 3 Columbia to determine the 2023 Nashville Regional Champion.
The Nashville Regional feeds into the Greenville Sectional which includes the winners of the Nashville Regional, Belleville Althoff Regional, the Wood River-East Alton Regional and the Vandalia Regional. The winner of the Greenville Sectional will advance to the Sandoval Super Sectional.
Against Carlyle Monday October 23 Chester took the Lady Indians to three sets. Carlyle won Set 1 18-25. Chester rebounded in Set 2 and beat Carlyle, 25-21. Carlyle managed to overcome Chester, 21-25 in the third and final Set 3.
In the loss the Lady Jackets looked good on the stat sheets with 41 assists vs Carlyle’s 32 assists. Chester had two aces vs. Carlyle’s 3 aces. Chester recorded 55 digs vs Carlyle’s 52 digs, and Chester had three blocks vs Carlyle’s 6.50 blocks.
Lady Jacket Head Coach Colleen Runge said, “Tonight we played our last game of the season. We played Carlyle in Round 1 of the Nashville Regional. Monday games are always tough for us. We started slow in the first set and lost, 18-21.”
“The second set, your lady Jackets led the whole game and we won, 25-21. The third set was a point-for-point game until the end with some big kills by Carlyle causing us to end our season with a 25-21 loss.”
Coach Runge said, “We had some shining moments throughout the game. Our defense worked well for us and we were able to put some good blocks and block touches on Carlyle’s tough outside hitter, Emma Meyer. Jordan Buskohl had a career-high 18 kills and Lexi Eggemeyer had 14 digs and 8 kills.”
Assistant Coach, Alyssa Keith said, “Monday games have always been hard for this team! We put up a good fight, but I just don’t think we were mentally in it tonight. This team was so fun to watch this year. We will definitely miss our seven seniors Alexis Eggemeyer, Ellen McCormick, Grace Welborn, Jasemine ‘Jazzi’ Merideth, Jordan Buskohl, Liberty McCormick, and Mabry Wingerter.”
In the loss, Mabry Wingerter led the team in assists with 18. She also contributed 12 digs, 2 kills, and 1 ace. Alexis Eggemeyer recorded 14 digs, 8 kills, 1 block and 1 assist. Jordan Buskohl had a career-high 18 kills to lead the team. She also added 1 dig.
Ellen McCormick recorded 10 digs and 3 assists. Elaina Lutman added 18 assists, 6 digs, and 1 kill. Camryn Wolff had 5 digs, 1 kill, and 1 assist. Maggie Caby led the team in blocks with 2 and added 1 ace, and 4 digs. Jasemine “Jazzi” Merideth added 3 kills and 1 dig. Finally, Grace Welborn contributed 2 kills and 2 digs.
With the loss the Lady Jackets ended their very successful 2023 volleyball season. Attendance at Lady Jacket games was very good this year and the girls provided tons of exciting, fun-to-watch, entertainment.
Chester had an overall record of 24-10 and just missed winning the Cahokia Conference Illinois Division Championship by one game with their 7-3 conference record.