Red Bud ends Chester's season
The dream season has come to an end for the Chester volleyball team.
Rough starts in the first and third sets proved to be too much to overcome for the Lady Yellow Jackets, who fell to Red Bud (15-25, 27-25 and 23-25) in Tuesday's semifinals of the Class 2A Chester Regional.
The Musketeers moved on to face No. 2 seed Gibault Catholic, which endured a three-set battle of its own against No. 8 Sparta in Tuesday's other semifinal, Thursday for the regional championship and a berth in next week's Pinckneyville Sectional.
Fifth-seeded Red Bud came out fast and furious in the first set, taking advantage of an out-of-sync Chester team to take the opener from the regional hosts.
The second set went better for the third-seeded Lady Yellow Jackets, with the teams tied at 16 before a back-and-forth battle invigorated the home crowd.
Red Bud was a point away from clinching the sweep before an emotional rally by Chester forced extra play and the eventual set victory.
But Chester wasn't able to capitalize on the momentum change of the second set, as Red Bud began the third - and deciding - set much the same as the first with an early 9-2 advantage.
The Lady Yellow Jackets weren't going to go away quietly either, eventually closing to within a point, 23-22.
But a serve from Haley Middendorf hit the net, giving set point to the Musketeers, who closed out the victory and the upset.
Chester senior Hannah Schweizer led Chester in blocks with 13, while Katie Hoffman had six, with Alexis McMath and Maddie Hoffman each contributing five.
Carlee Weir also dished out 30 assists for the Lady Yellow Jackets, while Alyssa Keith contributed 10 digs.
Katie Hoffman added three blocks and Schweizer and Middendorf each had two ace serves, while Maddie Hoffman contributed one.
Chester finished its season with a record of 28-3 and the distinction of the most single-season wins in school history and the school's first volleyball conference title with an undefeated 12-0 record in Black Diamond Conference West Division play.
The Lady Yellow Jackets also finished runner-up at the season-opening Marissa-New Athens Labor Day Tournament and the Freeburg Monster Mash tournament on Oct. 15.
Tuesday's action capped a busy couple of weeks for Chester, which cruised into the regional with wins over Sparta, Christopher, Sesser-Valier-Waltonville and Gibault Catholic.
On Oct. 17, the Lady Yellow Jackets traveled to Sparta to challenge the Lady Bulldogs. The result was a two set victory, beating Sparta 25-15 and 25-7.
The next night, Chester visited Christopher and battled the Bearcats to a three-set (25-22, 20-25 and 25-20) victory.
The Lady Yellow Jackets returned home for their final two matches of the 2016 regular season on Oct. 19 and 20.
On Oct. 19, Chester hosted Sesser-Valier-Waltonville and handled the Lady Red Devils in two sets, 25-13 and 25-15.
Finally on Senior Night on Oct. 20, Chester hosted Gibault Catholic in a three-set battle to the end.
Chester lost the first game, 18-25, but regrouped to beat the Hawks 25-19. The final set saw CHS eventually take control for a 25-21 victory.
The fans also said goodbye to seniors Alyssa Keith, Haley Middendorf, Alexis McMath and Hannah Schweizer.
Coach Chad Koenegstein introduced each of the girls and their parents, giving a detailed description of each player's history and accomplishments.
For the week, the team accumulated 135 kills, led by Hannah Schweizer - who had 37 of those marks.
Katie Hoffman and Alexis McMath each added 22 apiece. The Jackets recorded 123 assists for the week led by Carlee Weir who had 109 of that number.
In the four victories, CHS had 167 digs - led by Alyssa Keith, who had four, and Haley Middendorf who added 42.
Katie Hoffman led the team with 10 blocks, while Carlee Weir recorded six. Finally, the team had 34 aces last week, with Maddie Hoffman leading the way with nine.
Carlee Weir, Haley Middendorf and Hannah Schweizer each added six apiece.
"I feel this was a great prep week before regionals start," Koenegstein said. "Our defense, led by Haley Middendorf and Alyssa Keith, has been incredible.
"This has made our setter, Carlee Weir, very comfortable running the offense."