Volleyball starts season strong

After a long offseason, the Illinois Valley Central volleyball team is back in action and ready to make a long playoff run.

This year’s Lady Ghosts are led by seniors Jessie Ely, Marci Fletcher, Ashley Kluge, Amy Berchtold and Shya Kohler.

“Their experience on the team last year really helps,” coach Lisa Miller said. “Ely is one who will take over in terms of being a power hitter for us.”

Helping out the seniors will be sophomores Libby Rutan, Emily Bartlett and Laura Hedden.

“All three of our sophomores are excellent hitters,” Miller said.

Rounding out the team is freshman setter Brooke Ratcliff.

Last season, the team made a deep playoff run before losing in the super-sectional.

“I think we’re just trying to get back to where we were last year and even further,” Miller said. “There’s a lot of enthusiasm with this bunch to get out and play.”

Much like last year, the strength of the Ghosts will remain with their ability to keep opponents from racking up points.

“Strengthwise, we have a pretty good defense again,” Miller said. “We have some good girls in the back row and pretty solid passing overall.”

Despite the strength of the defense and the leadership of the experience senior class, the Ghosts will still face challenges all year.

“We’re going to have to put it all together down the stretch and know our opponents’ weaknesses,” Miller said. “We just need to make sure we put the ball where it needs to go.”

The team started the season by finishing third in the Eureka Invitational.

The Ghosts started the tournament by taking on Peoria Christian in pool play.

The Ghosts fell to the Chargers in the first set of the match, 19-25.

In the second set, senior Jessie Ely stepped up to rally the team for a 25-15 victory.

In the final set, the Ghosts pulled out a 17-15 victory to beat Peoria Christian.

“This was our very first game of the brand new season and it was at eight in the morning,” Miller said. “There was a little bit of rust on the team but they got better as the day went on.”

The Ghosts then dominated Havana in two sets.

In the first set, the defense of senior Amy Berchtold was able to keep Havana from racking up points as IVC won, 25-20.

IVC destroyed Havana, 25-15 in the second set.

The Ghosts then took on Urbana for the right to go to the championship game of the tournament. IVC fell in the first set, 19-25.

“We’re kind of young right now, with three sophomores playing big roles,” Miller said. “Blocking is our weakness right now. We need to work on our defense.”

In the second set, senior Marci Fletcher used her offensive prowess to help the Ghosts squeak out a 25-20 victory.

In the final set, the Ghosts lost 12-15.

“It was pretty evenly matched,” Miller said. “It’s a brand new group that is still learning how to play with each other, so there are still mistakes that come along with that. But I don’t think we’ll have those problems in time.”

IVC last took on Roanoke Benson for third-place.

IVC lost the first set but was able to rebound to take a 25-20 victory in the second set.
In the last set, IVC outplayed Roanoke and won, 15-12.

“That Roanoke Benson team was one of the scrappiest teams we have ever faced,” Miller said. “They would not let the ball hit the floor and we had some incredibly long volleys. We were able to stick it out in the end.”

The Ghosts next play at 5 p.m. Thursday at Brimfield.