Du Quoin advances to finals at volleyball regional

DU QUOIN -- Elizabeth Bird set the tone early and a freshman took over from there as Du Quoin High School's volleyball team swept Sparta 25-14, 25-18 in the semifinals of the Du Quoin 2A Regional on Tuesday night.
Bird scored the first five points by block or kill and finished with eight kills and six blocks on the night. It was freshman Lauren Heape that had the biggest night swinging, however, with a career-high 14 kills.
"We came out firing and never really looked back," said Du Quoin coach Isaac Miller. "Lauren really stepped up. For her to step up and play like that is what we've got to have right now. We have to give Bird a little extra help. We moved the ball around well."
That was due to another strong setting performance from senior Meryn Gross, who tallied 24 assists to go along with three kills and 14 digs. Gross told Miller that she went over 600 kills for the season in the match.
"I've never had a setter have that many," Miller said. "It's a credit to our team. We've got our serve receivers back there -- Katie Smith, Braylyn Funk, Morgan Bullar, Grace Alongi -- they just keep putting the ball on the setter's head and that's what it takes."
Smith had 11 digs and Alongi had eight, while Lauren Cravens chipped in four kills for the Lady Indians, who improved to 24-12 with the victory.
Du Quoin advances to Thursday's championship match and will face Chester for the title.
The Lady Indians last won a regional title in volleyball in 2001.
Chester received a forfeit win over Pinckneyville after it was learned that the Lady Panthers played 36 matches during the regular season, one more than allowed by the IHSA.
Pinckneyville was ruled by IHSA executive director Craig Anderson to have violated Bylaw 5.322 exceeding the total match limit and thus had a "competitive advantage" that deemed them ineligible for the postseason.
The Lady Panthers, who were 28-8, played seven contests last week alone with road matches at Trico and Okawville before five at the Fairfield Invitational -- three in pool play and two more in finals.
Pinckneyville's 35th match was against Massac County in the semifinals; the third-place match against Benton put the Lady Panthers over the top. The oversight was reportedly due to the Marissa tournament early in the season changing its format to more matches than usually anticipated.
Pinckneyville appealed the ruling and the IHSA's Board of Directors met but upheld Anderson's ruling to end the Lady Panthers' season.
"I feel for them," Miller said. "I feel for those kids more than anything. That's a tough situation."
-- Doug Daniels contributed to this report