Wave takes third in 2A

NORMAL, Ill. - St. Edward ‘s school-best third-place finish Saturday in the Class 2A girls volleyball tournament did not make the pain of Friday’s loss to eventual state champion Freeburg any easier to stomach.

“Coming off yesterday, which was a pretty tough loss against a very good team, wasn’t easy,” St. Edward coach Jaime Walton said. “We felt that we were pretty evenly matched (with Freeburg) and that could have been the championship match.

“It was a little bit of a letdown, but we came out and we’re loving the win we got today."

St. Edward got 12 kills and eight digs from Kristen Haggenjos, 10 kills and eight assists from Katie Yohn and 11 assists from Rachel Varley to beat Princeton 25-22, 26-24.

“This was the best way besides winning a state championship I could have ended my senior season,” Haggenjos said. “I’m going to keep playing volleyball, but everything I do I owe to (coach Walton).”

St. Edward (24-18) trailed 12-9 in Game 1, but a kill by Yohn gave the Wave a 17-16 lead. Yohn later served four consecutive points to break a 19-19 tie and a Haggenjos kill gave St. Edward a game advantage.

The Wave broke to a 14-10 lead in Game 2, but Princeton rallied to take a 24-23 lead. Haggenjos’ kill got St. Edward even at 24, and a Princeton error and Varley’s ace ended the most successful - albeit loss-laden - season in school history.

“People talk about our 17, 18 losses,” Walton said. “We struggled at the beginning of the year, but we also played a lot of good teams. I knew if we could get it together it could happen, especially since we had eight seniors and it was now or never for them.”

One of those seniors, Yohn, played probably the last volleyball match of her athletic career. Next fall, she will attend Bradley on a basketball scholarship.

“I never thought about this being my last volleyball game,” Yohn said. “But it’s great to be a part of the best volleyball team in school history. It’s cool.”

Princeton (28-11-2) got 12 kills from Leah Shaw and 19 assists from Molly Stephens.