IHSA Volleyball- The Road to Normal: Herrin Knocks out Du Quoin, Lady Panthers Out

</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[The top two seeded teams-Murphysboro and Herrin-have advanced to the finals of the Du Quoin Class 2A Volleyball Regional Tournament.

That's certainly no surprise.

What may surprise some, however, is the nature in which the Red Devils and Lady Tigers notched semifinal wins Thursday night in Anders Gym.

Murphysboro, 31-3, struggled to eliminate a stubborn Chester squad in the final match of the evening. Scores were 25-21 and 25-9. Chester, which opened the season with impressive 25-19 and 25-4 wins over Sesser-Valier/Waltonville, ended the fall at 11-20.

Herrin (15-16) edged past third-seeded Du Quoin 25-21, 25-23 to reach the title showdown, set for 6 p.m. Saturday.

Du Quoin's Lady Indians-after winning just five matches the previous two seasons-ended a productive year at 13-19.

"The girls played their hardest and that's all you can ask of your team," Lady Indians coach Isaac Miller said. "We finished the year with 13 wins with such a young team. It makes me feel like our future is pretty darn bright."

Freshman Abby Horn asserted herself in the second game and put down seven kills and three blocks to lead Herrin.

"She's just a freshman but right now she should have enough experiencel," Herrin coach Irv Lukens said. "She just needs to believe she can get the job done. We all know she can get the job done."

Horn was sick and not with the Lady Tigers when they beat Du Quoin last week on Senior Night, a victory that provided a boatload of confidence after having lost to the Lady Indians twice during the regular season.

Haley Elders had six kills and four blocks, while Austyn Ridings added five kills and two aces for the Lady Tigers. Natalie Burris dished out 12 assists and had one kills, with Stephanie Diaz and Katie Guebert both adding two kills.

For the Lady Indians, Rebekah Maddox had six kills and one block. Kelsey Toler added five kills and seven points.

Staci Davis added six points and seven assists with Jessica Hirsch notching five points.

Megi Jones led with 11 assists. Keawna Anders, Davis and Hirsch all recorded serving aces. Cassidy Rice had six digs with Jessica Martin (one kill) and Nastia Campanella (one dig) also seeing action.

RED BUD REGIONAL

Pinckneyville's season also ended Thursday.

The Lady Panthers fell 25-17, 25-17 against host Red Bud in Class 2A.