Doehring serves Bulldog to sectional final

Dustin White

MONTICELLO — Jessica Doehring probably slept well Tuesday night, but it would come as no surprise if she had a starring role in many a nightmare amongst members of the Bismarck-Henning volleyball team.

Doehring, a junior reserve for St. Anthony High School, served nine straight successful points for the Bulldogs in Tuesday's Class 2A Monticello Sectional semifinal against the Blue Devils, turning game two into a blowout as St. Anthony (27-9) advanced to Thursday's finals by a 26-24, 25-13 count.

"(Doehring) came in tonight, and I told her I wanted to see that normal, pretty little topspin serve of hers," said St. Anthony coach Marianne Larimer, whose club led 13-10 when Doehring came off the bench to serve.

"She said okay, and boy she did a nice job."

Bismarck-Henning (23-4) had no answer for that pretty little topspin serve, falling apart as the shark-like Bulldogs smelled blood in the water and took full advantage to return to the Sweet Sixteen for the first time since 2005.

"During that time out (at 19-10), I told the girls we have to keep Jess on the line," said Larimer. "She gave us a big enough lead that we could just side out to the end of the match."

The run finally ended when junior Ann Bushur put a spike into the net to make it 22-11.

"That serve is tough," said Larimer. "Believe me. I've stood and watched it on the other side, and all our kids have testified to the fact.

"They don't want to be over there with her serving, either. We're lucky she can step up and do that in a big match. In this case, the biggest of matches."

Doehring also served the final six points of St. Anthony's regional semifinal victory over Casey-Westfield, breaking a 19-19 game three tie. That run included four aces.

Tuesday's impressive showing featured three. The rest of the time the Blue Devil back row struggled to play it cleanly in order to set up some sort of rally-killing possession.

It was another junior, Bushur, who came up big time and time again for the Bulldogs in a much more competitive opening game.

Bushur finished the evening with a team-high 11 kills and had seven in the opening game — a game featuring 15 tie scores and a 21-19 Blue Devil lead despite St. Anthony's 16-11 advantage earlier in the set.

"We just asked the juniors to step up a little at that point," said Larimer of St. Anthony's mid-game slump. "We need them."

Bushur misfired on two consecutive spike attacks and then came up empty on a serve receive to get the score to 21-19 in Bismarck-Henning's favor, but bounced back to record kills to give St. Anthony 23-22 and 24-23 leads.

"Everybody makes mistakes, but you've got to be able to correct them and come back firing," said Larimer. "That's the thing I like about Ann. In crunch time, she fired away. She was fearless, and you have to be that way."

Another junior, Michelle Jansen, came up with four blocks along with a couple aces and three kills.

Sophomore Naomi Gray shared the team lead for digs with senior Allie Kabbes; both had 12, while senior Mary Jo Bushur was her usual solid self with 23 assists, two kills, seven digs and a pair of blocks.

Bismarck-Henning made two straight mistake to end game one; freshman setter Lauren McKenzie sent a set-style free ball out of bounds deep on the St. Anthony side of the floor to make it 25-24, and junior outside hitter Shelby Hines' shot down the left sideline just missed wide.

"They're a tough team," Larimer said of the Blue Devils. "Their height was a factor early on. In the first game we struggled with them.

"Of course Jessica served very well in the second game, but we also settled down and started passing their serves better. That combination helped give us confidence, and I think also helps to frustrate the other team."

St. Anthony won back-to-back sectional titles in 2004 and 2005, Larimer's first two seasons at the helm.

That was in the old days of two-class volleyball in the IHSA. Sectional finalists were among the 16 teams remaining, and eight teams advanced to state out of the super-sectional round.

In today's four-class setup, there are just eight super-sectionals. Only four teams advance to state, while 16 teams will compete for sectional championships Thursday evening.

The other sectional finalist at Monticello will be Decatur St. Teresa, which survived a 25-21, 19-25, 27-25 duel with Champaign St. Thomas More.

St. Teresa, another school carrying the "Bulldog" nickname, ousted St. Anthony from last year's regional semifinals.

Larimer knows her team will be up against a very challenging opponent, but also has confidence in her team's determination and desire to reach Saturday's Pana Super-Sectional.

"We've played these types of matches so many times this year," said Larimer. "This is us. This is what we do. After (Saturday's regional final) against Newton, I'm not sure we'll be fazed by much of anything.

"We're in the Sweet Sixteen, and we could have just as easily lost in the semifinals of the regional. It was that close. We'll probably always run through our nerves, but I never have to say anything to these girls about giving up.

"They just have that steely resolve. Win or lose, they'll be fighting to the end. As maddeningly as we play sometimes, that's a comforting thought and it speaks very highly of them. I'm pretty proud of them."

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

Class 2A Monticello Sectional

Semifinal

St. Anthony — Mary Jo Bushur, 2 kills, 23 assists, 7 digs, 2 stuff blocks; Allie Kabbes, 1 ace, 12 digs; April Wenthe, 3 kills, 3 digs; Elizabeth Jansen, 6 digs; Lena Grunloh, 4 kills, 2 digs; Michelle Jansen, junior, 2 aces, 3 kills, 4 digs, 4 stuff blocks; Ann Bushur, 1 ace, 11 kills, 9 digs; Leah Dallmier, 3 kills; Naomi Gray, 12 digs; Jessica Doehring, 3 aces, 2 digs

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