STREATOR – The Cissna Park varsity volleyball team has nine seniors on its team, at least some of whom have played on varsity all four years of their careers.
The senior Timberwolves have seen more than their fair share of postseason success. A 25-8, 25-17 victory over Fieldcrest in the IHSA Class 1A Streator Woodland Regional championship match marked Cissna Park’s fourth consecutive year of advancing beyond the regional round.
“It’s quite an accomplishment,” Cissna Park head coach Josh Landon said. “Sometimes, regionals are things that some people may take for granted or don’t view as a big accomplishment, but it is a big accomplishment. When you look at the number of teams that are playing around the state in each class, to know that we’re still advancing on is a great accomplishment for our program.”
Despite the winning of a regional championship becoming a familiar plot, senior Addison Lucht said the team will “never take that for granted.”
“A lot of schools never even get to play in the regional championship, so we never take it for granted,” Lucht said. “We work hard and we love every moment.”
This year’s Cissna Park team is entering sectionals with the least number of losses of the four-year run as Thursday’s win improved the Timberwolves’ record to 35-1.
“I think we’re on the right track,” Lucht said. “We’ve just got to stay focused and take it one game at a time.”
A kill by Sophie Duis and an ace by Mady Marcott gave Cissna Park an early 2-0 lead in the first set before kills by Duis, Ava Henrichs, Josie Neukomm and Lucht helped the Timberwolves extend a 4-1 lead to 10-1.
Josie Neukomm and Marina Day each tallied a kill to extend the advantage from 10-2 to 12-2. Another kill by Josie Neukomm made it 13-4.
“When our passes are on, it’s amazing,” Josie Neukomm said. “You can never tell who we’re going to set, but I know when the ball gets in any hitter’s hand, it’ll go down.”
Two more kills by Lucht made it 16-5 and 17-6 before Duis recorded a kill to make it 18-8. Lucht tallied another kill to make it 20-8 before a block by Duis made it 21-8.
“We’ve always had a bunch of weapons,” Lucht said. “No matter who gets the ball and who’s in the front row, I have total confidence in them to get a kill. At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter who’s getting all the kills. It just matters that we win the game and keep moving on.”
From there, three aces by Marcott and a kill by Lucht tallied Cissna Park’s final four points of the set.
“We came in with a great game plan,” Landon said. “We wanted to come in and execute at a high level. We did some nice things in our serve-receive. I thought our passes were where they needed to be for us to do the things we enjoy doing offensively. It’s just a great overall team victory tonight.”
Two more kills by Duis made the score of the second set 1-0 and 4-1 before a kill by Josie Neukomm made it 5-1.
Ella Schluter recorded an ace to make it 9-3 before kills by Josie Neukomm and Lucht made it 10-4 and 11-5, respectively. Kills by Lucht and Henrichs made it 12-6 and 17-6, respectively.
After Lucht recorded a kill to make it 19-8, reserve players were put in the game for the Timberwolves to get playing time that Landon said could be valuable in the long run.
“It’s huge. They’re in the gym challenging every day just like the group is. Getting game experience is valuable because you never know when that time comes up,” Landon said. “We always say it’s going to be the next man up mentality, so making sure they’re in positions to be successful with what they practice was huge for an opportunity that may come up down the road. You never know.”
Day recorded a kill to make it 21-13 before an ace by Schluter made it 22-13. Day recorded another kill to make it 24-17.
Sophomore Kendyl Neukomm, Josie’s younger sister, tallied an ace to score the match point.
“I honestly take it for granted, but she’s come a long way, and I’m so proud of her,” Josie Neukomm said. “I sometimes forget to tell her that.”
Josie Neukomm and Lucht each finished with nine kills while Duis had five kills and three blocks. Marcott had four aces and 15 assists while Ella Schluter had 10 assists.
Josie and Kendyl Neukomm had 10 and seven digs, respectively.
“It’s just a matter of staying balanced,” Landon said. “We have Josie and Addison on the outside. You mix in Sophie and Marina in the middle. Then all of a sudden, you throw in Ava Henrichs and Annika Stadeli on the back side, a lot of good things can happen. Lauryn Hamrick comes in and owns a spot on the outside in our rotation. We’re just continuing to stay balanced moving forward.”
After traveling almost two hours for their regional matches, Cissna Park will stay in Iroquois County for their sectional, which is in Watseka.
“We’re looking forward to that short drive to Watseka,” Landon said. “We’re going to have a great crowd with the proximity.”
“I’m excited that they’re in Watseka so we don’t have to drive so far,” Lucht added.
The Timberwolves will face Dwight in the sectional semifinals at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday. The winner will face either Watseka or Lexington in the sectional final at 6:30 p.m. next Thursday.
“I’m glad it’s closer to home, but we’re so excited to be in this spot as a team,” Josie Neukomm said. “We worked really hard to get here.”
“We’re thankful for the opportunity and we’ll be ready to go on Tuesday,” Landon added.
Cissna Park def. Fieldcrest 25-8, 25-17
At Streator
For Cissna Park (35-1), kills: Addison Lucht 9, Josie Neukomm 9, Sophie Duis 5; aces: Mady Marcott 4; assists: Marcott 15, Ella Schluter 10; digs: Josie Neukomm 10, Kendyl Neukomm 7; blocks: Duis 3.