DMS VOLLEYBALL: Lady Warriors Repeat State Champions !

</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[ For the first time in a very storied athletic past, Du Quoin (Middle School) can finally boast of being a back-to-back state champion.

Saturday night in Herrin High School's Memorial Gym, DMS' girls volleyball team claimed its second consecutive Southern Illinois Junior High School Athletic Association (SIJHSAA) Class L State title with an impressive final match victory over Waterloo (Junior High School).

The Lady Indians-notching a school record for victories (31)-dispatched Waterloo 25-21 and 25-15 in the title match. Earlier in the day, DMS had beaten Mount Carmel (25-11, 25-21) and Carlyle (25-17, 19-25, 15-13).

"Wow, what a day," Lady Warriors coach Isaac Miller said. "What a way to end the year. I cannot say enough about this group of girls. They are very special."

After handling Mount Carmel in its first match, Du Quoin found itself battling down to the final points against Carlyle.

Trailing by five points early in game three-which only plays to 15 points-the Lady Warriors quickly jumped to life.

A kill from Cassidy Rice knotted the score at 10-10 and DMS went ahead 14-13 after a sideout against Carlyle.

Rice-who finished the day with 44 service points-secured another trip to the finals with a serving ace.

In three matches, Rice had 16 aces and missed on just three of 56 serves.

"These girls just flat out handle the pressure," Miller said.

"Carlyle was a tall team and loaded with tremendous athletes. "They won the state championship in basketball so we knew they would be tough."

In the finals against Waterloo's Lady Junior Bulldogs, Du Quoin quickly found itself in a big first game hole.

Waterloo was ahead 19-9 when Du Quoin finally regained serve after surviving a pair of six-point runs.

With Rice at the serving line and 6-foot standout Rebekah Maddox at the net, DMS began clicking on all its cylinders.

Rice served a dozen consecutive points-four of those aces-as the Lady Warriors began chipping away at Waterloo's lead.

Du Quoin tied things at 19-19 on a Rice ace and then went ahead for good with two kills from Maddox.

Waterloo briefly cut the margin back to a point, before DMS closed things out with a 4-0 flurry.

The end was capped by Rice's final point kill.

"That was kind of a wow moment," Miller said of the comeback.

"The parents and crowd were like our seventh man out there. You could just feel the momentum changing in the gym and our girls just took over. We were down 19-9 and the mistakes were starting to pile up."

Game two started much like game one finished.

Rice served two quick aces with kills from Maddox and Abby Myers capping an early 10-1 DMS run.

Waterloo-coached by Du Quoin native Bill Theobald-trailed 21-12 after a dink from Maddox and 24-15 late before the Lady Warriors shut the door and secured another title after a missed Waterloo hit.

"I would like to thank all the girls and give special thanks to my dad, Paul," Miller said. "He was always there at every game and practice despite living an hour away from Du Quoin. It was very special for me to again be coaching alongside him all season. We couldn't have done it without him."

The Lady Warriors were welcomed back to town with a police and fire escort Saturday night.

The parade continued through town before ending back at DMS.

Maddox was the tournament's dominant player at the net, ending play with 41 kills and nine blocks.

Hadley Marek led with 14 assists while Rice, Maddox and Marek all had 11 digs. Rice and Jessie Martin complimented Maddox nicely at the net with nine kills apiece.

As a team, DMS was 146-for-155 at serving.

Chandra Gilliam (17 points), Carlie Hill (15 points, five aces) and Kate Toler (13 points) enjoyed great days at the line. Annie Bastien was 8-for-8.

State Tourney Statistics

Cassidy Rice: 53-56 serves, 44 points, 16 aces, 9 kills, 6 assists, 19 digs.

Rebekah Maddox: 13-15 serves, 6 points, 1 ace, 41 kills, 6 assists, 9 blocks, 11 digs.

Katie Toler: 20-23 serves, 13 points, 2 aces, 6 kills, 3 assists, 4 digs.

Abby Myers: 3 kills, 1 assist, 3 digs.

Jessie Martin: 9 kills, 6 digs.

Hadley Marek: 1 kill, 14 assists, 11 digs.

Carlie Hill: 23-23 serves, 15 points, 5 aces, 6 digs.

Molly Clark: 4 digs.

Bailie Caldwell: 1 dig.

Chandra Gilliam: 27-27 serves, 17 points, 2 digs.

Annie Bastien: 8-8 serves, 1 point, 1 ace.

Shantanna Fann: 2-3 serves, 2 points, 1 ace.

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