Salem gets best of Highland in Class 3A volleyball regional championship match
It was all there for the taking for the Highland volleyball team on Thursday night in the Class 3A Regional championship game at Triad High School.
Then just over an hour later, it was gone.
Top-seeded Highland came in swinging and hitting big, but No. 5 seeded underdog Salem handled Highland’s aggressive offense with strong defense, timely serving, and solid net play. The Wildcats upset Highland with a thrilling three-set victory 27-25, 16-25, and 25-19 to win the regional championship.
Salem, (15-19) which won its first regional championship since 2004, advances to face Freeburg in the Mascoutah Sectional semifinals on Monday at 7 p.m.
Winning a regional championship for the first time in 20 years left Salem coach Nikki Brubaker and her club feeling downright euphoric.
“Well, it means a lot,” Brubaker said. “It’s been a long time. We found out that 03-04 was the last Salem won the regional, so yeah it’s been a while and it’s the fourth year here for these girls who started as freshmen when I took over and we put a lot into them and they really performed tonight.”
In the opening set of play, the teams traded points for the first nine points before Salem moved to a 12-9 lead behind the serving of Natalie Lee.
Highland had a chance to close out the first set with the lead at 23-22 but Salem batted through three set points before winning the opening set 27-25 off of a pair of Taylor Ice serves.
The Bulldogs were never able to get their big-hitting offense going much against the Wildcats scrappy defense.
“I think we were very determined to swing on a lot of balls and that’s exactly how their defense is set up and we didn’t set up our shots like we probably should have and they were very ready for the swings,” Highland coach Anna Murphy said. “They’re a little less than conventional (defensively) they have other setter serve-receiving which is a little different.”
Highland rebounded in the second set as the Bulldogs broke a 4-4 tie and went on an 8-0 run powered by Ally Russo’s serving to grab a 12-4 lead. Salem closed to gap to 20-15 with a four-point run but a 4-1 HHS run capped by an Alex Schultz serving ace gave the Bulldogs the second set with a 25-16 win.
That set up the deciding third set, which Salem started strong with a 5-0 run thanks to Emma Gregg’s strong serving. Highland pulled within 21-17 on a service ace from Ellie Kampwerth but the Wildcats responded with a 4-2 surge by the serving of Mollie Smith and Jillian Green to close out the set and win the match.
“We have great hitters and we want to make sure that we are gonna be the ones to attack and put the ball down and swing every time we get chance, so that was our focus (tonight),” Brubaker said.
Despite losing their first regional championship appearance since 2018 the season was definitely a successful one for HHS, which finished 20-17 overall.
“It’s definitely (been) a very solid season,” Murphy said. “I’m definitely proud of these girls, they’ve had a bit of adversity and they’ve pushed through it for the most part. I think these girls are looking to work hard in the offseason, so I would say anything is possible next year.”
This story was originally published October 27, 2023 at 9:13 AM.