The Stephen-Argyle Storm won the first two sets only to have the Sacred Heart Eagles win the next two, but it was the Storm pulling away in the fifth set for a 3-2 (25-13, 25-21, 23-25, 16-25, 15-7) in the first round of the Section 8A Volleyball in a match played in Stephen. “We are really happy with the win, but we definitely struggled there for awhile,” said Storm Head Coach Karen Evans. “The girls pulled it out. I am proud of them for pulling together at the end.”
SET ONE –
Stephen-Argyle came out strong with on a 3-0 lead with a kill from Riley Mooney, a Sacred Heart illegal hit and attack error. The Eagles bounced back with two points including a Grace Vonesh kill. Stephen-Argyle responded with a 6-1 run started by two Mooney kills, Grace Carlson added a block for a kill and another kill and all of a sudden the Storm led 9-3. “Riley was pretty smiley today and she was having fun,” said Coach Evans. “She is always consistent and at the same time she also takes it seriously and she was definitely doing her job tonight.”  The teams played even for a bit before Sacred Heart had four hitting errors followed by another Mooney kill, which was followed by a Macy Haugen kill for a 19-7 lead forcing Sacred Heart into a time out.  Sacred Heart came out of the time out with a kill from Sophie Evavold only to have Mooney answer with another kill.  The Storm continued to pull away and cruised to a 25-13 victory to take a 1-0 lead in the match. “Stephen-Argyle is a great team and the ball does not go down easily on their side of the court,” explained the Head Coach of the Eagles, Emily Vonasek. “Credit to them for a great match.”
SET TWO –
The second set was a great back-and-forth battle with a lot of long rallies and great defense hustle plays. Sacred Heart couldn’t have asked for a better start as they jumped out to an 8-1 lead with three kills from Vonesh, a couple of service aces and a few kills mixed in for the seven point lead to start the set. “I was really proud of the girls tonight. They fought and didn’t want their season to end,” said Coach Vonasek. “It was a little late in starting, but eventually we got there.” Grace Carlson and Riley Mooney started to impose their will for Stephen-Argyle as they has several kills and blocks to help the Storm tie the set at 15-15. “I was really impressed by Grace tonight. She had a few tips right to the back line and I don’t know how she did it,” said Coach Evans. “Sacred Heart is tough at the net so she switched it up a bit tonight.” There were ties at 16, 18, 19, and 21 before Sacred Heart hit into the net, had a double hit and the final two points were scored on two big kills from the Storm’s Josie Rivard for a 25-21 victory to take a 2-0 lead. “The first two sets the girls were pretty on fire,” added Coach Evans. “Our girls do a whole bunch of things really well.”
SET THREE-
Sacred Heart jumped out to another early lead with kills from Sophie Evavold and Emma Anvinson. That momentum carried over for a while as Sacred Heart built a 4-1 lead before Stephen-Argyle’s Carlson had a couple kills, Emma Evans added a kill and Marey Kazmierczak served an ace to tie the set at 7-7. The teams were tied at 8, and after Sacred Heart took a 9-8 lead, the Storm’s Riley Mooney had back-to-back kills for a 10-9 lead. Sacred Heart scored another point before Mooney blasted another kill. The teams were tied at 11, 12, and 14. Sacred Heart went on a 3-0 run with two Storm errors and a kill from Horken for a 17-14 lead. Stephen-Argyle battle back to tie the set at 19, 20, and 22. The Storm served into the net, Horken had a kill, before Stephen-Argyle’s Mooney blasted another kill and the Eagles led 24-23. Sacred Heart ended the set with a Horken kill for a 25-23 victory to force a fourth set with Stephen-Argyle leading 2-1. “We decided that we didn’t want it to end like that and we want to go out at least fighting,” said Coach Vonasek. “Despite the outcome, I am very proud of what they did.”
SET FOUR –Â
The fourth set was another thriller as the teams were tied at 1, 2, 3, 6, 8, and 9.  Sacred Heart scored the next four points with kills from Evavold, Anvinson, a Storm attack error, and a Vonasek ace for a 13-9 lead.  Sacred Heart would continue to build on their lead behind the tremendous defense play of the entire team and outstanding offensive play. “Momentum was on our side and they weren’t playing as well and we took advantage of that,” explained Coach Vonasek. Leading 21-16, Evavold had two kills and Anvinson finished with two kills to give Sacred Heart a 25-16 victory to force a fifth set. “Once we started going the momentum swung and it was ours for the taking,” added Coach Vonasek. “The girls showed a huge amount of fight and they dug really deep tonight. I can’t ask for more.”
SET FIVE –Â
Sacred Heart took a 1-0 lead with a kill from Evavold, but Stephen-Argyle answered with three straight points with a bad Eagle serve, an Eagle attack error, and a kill from Rivard for a 3-1 lead. “I pulled the Seniors aside and told them it’s now or never and asked if they wanted to play tomorrow or be done,” explained Coach Evans. Sacred Heart’s Evavold had a big kill followed by a Grace Loeslie ace that skipped off the top of the net to tie the set at 3-3.  Stephen-Argyle answered with two straight points with a kill from Regan Swanson, and an Eagle attack error for a 5-3 lead.  Vonesh had a kill to bring the Eagles within a 5-4 deficit, but Carlson had a kill and a block to give the Storm a 7-4 lead.  Haugen had a kill for an 8-4 lead only to have the Eagle’s Vonesh answer with a kill and Avery Horken responded with a smashing kill to get within an 8-6 deficit.  The Storm responded with a well-placed attack by Grace Carlson for a point, and Carlson followed with a big block for a kill.  That was followed by back-to-back service aces from Macy Haugen for a 12-6 lead, forcing a Sacred Heart time out. “That is how I know they can play but how we start is how we need to continue,” said Coach Evans. “It showed a good work ethic.” The Eagles hit an attack into the net and their next attack went out of bounds and Stephen-Argyle led 14-6. “When you only play to 15 you have to stop runs quick and even a two-point run is going to do you in usually,” said Coach Vonasek.  Stephen-Argyle hit an attack into the net and Sacred Heart stayed alive for a moment as Grace Carlson punched the ball over the net and the Eagles couldn’t play the ball and Stephen-Argyle won a thriller 15-7 to advance to the Section 8A quarterfinals on Friday night at Badger/Greenbush-Middle River. “We are going to have to play a lot better tomorrow,” said Coach Evans. “We have to do everything well tomorrow against BGMR.”
Stephen-Argyle improves to 19-8 on the year and will travel to BGMR on Friday night, a match you can hear on KROX Radio. Â Sacred Heart finishes the season 16-11.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | |
| Sacred Heart | 13 | 21 | 25 | 25 | Â 7 |
| Stephen-Argyle | 25 | 25 | 23 | 16 | Â 15 |
For Sacred Heart
Kills– Sophie Evavold – 13, Grace Vonesh – 10, Avery Horken – 10
Blocks –Sophie Evavold – 2, Grace Vonesh – 2
Assists – Grace Miller – 37
Digs –Grace Loeslie – 12, Avery Horken – 8, Rylee Chwialkowski – 8
Aces – Grace Loeslie – 4, Rylee Chwialkowski – 3
For Stephen-Argyle
Kills– Riley Mooney – 23, Grace Carlson – 15
Blocks – Grace Carlson – 6, Josie Rivard – 3
Assists – Regan Swanson – 32, Macy Haugen – 15
Aces – Macy Haugen – 3, Regan Swanson – 2
