Bulldogs, other area teams playing in sectionals

Dustin White

St. Anthony High School returns to sectional play tonight, joining three other area volleyball teams still alive in the IHSA postseason.

The Bulldogs (26-9) head to the Class 2A Monticello Sectional after winning their own regional title; they will face Bismarck-Henning (23-3) in a 6 p.m. match.

Meanwhile in Class 1A, South Central (28-4) will rematch with Cumberland (25-2) in the second semifinal match of the Red Hill Sectional in Bridgeport.

The Cougars, winners of their first regional since 2004, defeated the Pirates very early in the season at the Altamont Tournament; Cumberland is looking to make another run to state after taking third place last year.

Windsor also is still alive and will get a chance to play in its own Class 1A sectional after knocking off Moweaqua Central A&M; in a Saturday regional final at Meridian High School in Macon.

The Blue Devils (28-7) will take on Danville Schlarman in a 6 p.m. match with Mount Pulaski and Tri-County (Kansas) following.

All sectional championship matches are slated for 7 p.m. Thursday.

CLASS 2A

Monticello Sectional

Marianne Larimer has a knack for getting her Bulldogs playing good ball at the right time of year.

Larimer's Bulldogs had a rough patch here and there early in the season, but are hitting the Monticello Sectional at full stride after pulling off a mild upset of Newton Saturday at the Enlow Center.

That 25-23, 24-26, 30-28 win over the top-seeded Eagles made St. Anthony, the No. 2 seed, the only non-No. 1 to earn its way into the Monticello field.

"These girls seem to play better when their backs are to the wall," said St. Anthony's sixth-year coach. "I just kept thinking we should never have led, because Newton just did everything well."

The Bulldogs have shown plenty of guts — their semifinal with Casey-Westfield went three games as well — and will need to keep doing what they're doing against a salty Bismarck-Henning club.

Each squad features a similar makeup, using a mix of seniors and talented younger players and having to figure some things out along the way.

"We have a mix that includes a lot of young players," Blue Devils coach Susan Kentner told the Danville Commercial-News after her squad defeated Paxton-Buckley-Loda 25-18, 26-24 to win its own regional.

"Even our older players don't have much experience from last season. It has been a very satisfying season."

Kentner has been at Bismarck-Henning since 1992, according to IHSA's online record book. The Commercial-News' report indicated the Blue Devils have appeared in 13 straight regional finals, collecting wins in eight of them and two in a row.

St. Anthony reached sectionals in 2007 and played undefeated Maroa-Forsyth tough before falling to the eventual third-place finishers in the first season of four-class volleyball.

Larimer has guided St. Anthony to four regional titles and won back-to-back sectionals in 2004 and 2005.

CLASS 1A

Red Hill Sectional

The last time South Central and Cumberland met in a sectional semifinal, the Cougars advanced and were eliminated by St. Anthony in the championship.

That was 2004, the last time Coach Mary Brimberry had South Central in the sectional round despite 105 wins for her teams over the next four seasons.

Brimberry has coached six regional winners in her 16 seasons; South Central has won 386 of its 488 matches (79 percent) since 1994. The worst season over that stretch was an 18-11 campaign in 1999.

The Cougars were the No. 3 seed in the recently-concluded Dieterich Regional, ousting No. 2 St. Elmo and No. 1 Dieterich in consecutive matches to get to this point.

Those were two teams that had previously saddled the Cougars with losses. Cumberland doesn't fit that bill.

Even though this season's Cumberland/South Central match was very early, South Central still enters knowing it is one of the two teams that has knocked off the Pirates.

Meanwhile, Cumberland is playing under Monica McNeil after the departure of Drew Robertson during the summer.

Robertson, who pursued a teaching job elsewhere, now heads up the Tri-County (Kansas) program. Incidentally, the Titans also are still alive in the Windsor Sectional.

McNeil's club has won 17 straight entering sectional action.

Eldorado and Edwards County (Albion) — the only team besides South Central to beat Cumberland this year — play in the first semifinal at 6 p.m.

Windsor Sectional

This is Windsor's second straight regional crown; the Blue Devils won as a No. 3 seed last year and were knocked off by Central A&M; in sectional semifinal action.

Windsor, who was taken over by Coach Lori Bennett this season, exacted some revenge on the Raiders in Saturday's regional finals and will now take on Danville Schlarman, winner of the Catlin Regional and owner of three regional crowns over the past four seasons.

"It was obvious our girls were ready to play at a high level," said Bennett of the regional finale. "We are definitely playing our best volleyball of the season right now."

That's good, because a win over the Hilltoppers will mean a match with either Tri-County or Mount Pulaski — two programs with a tradition of strong play.

Dustin White can be reached at 217-347-7151 ext. 123 or dustin.white@effinghamdailynews.com.

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