The Waterloo and Columbia high school volleyball squads ended their season Thursday night in sectional final matches. 

The Bulldogs (25-13) lost 25-19, 25-19 to Mascoutah in a Class 3A showdown played at Southwestern Illinois College in Belleville.

The Eagles (31-7) lost 27-25, 25-16 to Mater Dei in the Class 2A Staunton Sectional final.

Both squads won sectional semifinal matches last Tuesday night to make the final.

Waterloo won 25-20, 25-22 over Effingham. Columbia posted a 25-17, 25-13 victory over Staunton.

Waterloo head volleyball coach Angie Crawford  expressed pride in the development and growth of her team this season.

“We finished strong, playing at our top level,” she said.

The Bulldogs were forced to make adjustments after the loss of key player Kenzy Koudelka to injury. She led the team with 93 points prior to the injury. 

“This year, I feel it is our first time experiencing depth within our program,” Crawford said. “You can surely see this as we continued to push forward together with those players who stepped up to fill Kenzy’s position.”

Emery Bockhorn took over on defense and Sam Juelfs on offense, Crawford said. Juelfs missed the postseason due to an illness, Crawford said.

“We made adjustments, moving Evie Reischneider to the outside hitting position and moving up Kaidyn Moore to play right side hitter,” Crawford explained. “The mindset and strength these girls displayed throughout the postseason is exactly what a coach wants to see.  Their competitive drive, passion, and team bond with belief got them through some tough teams. They lived up to their motto: ‘Fight for it all.’” 

Crawford praised the play of senior captains Reifschneider and Emerson Horvath. Reifschneider led the team with 207 kills. Horvath led with 183 points and also contributed 398 digs.

“Emerson was a solid outside hitter that was crucial to our serve receive and defense,” Crawford said. “Evie was a crucial pin hitter for us. Both of these girls will be greatly missed and leave big shoes to fill.”  

Three juniors who stepped up this season, according to Crawford, were Ellie Zweigart, Ellie Day and Megan Huebner.  

Zweigart led the team with 519 digs and also contributed 170 points. Day ran the offense as the team’s setter, leading the way with 672 assists. Huebner was a force at the net, leading the way with 223 blocks.

All three will return in 2025 along with a healthy Koudelka. 

Other members that were instrumental to our success throughout the season, per Crawford, were Raina Roessler, Reagan Wilhelm, Claire Arnold, AJ Brown and Mallory Thompson. 

Likewise, Columbia head volleyball coach Kelly Landgraf was pleased with her team’s effort this season.

“We obviously ended sooner than we had liked but I cannot say enough about the girls’ grit and determination to put up a fight against Mater Dei,” she said. “In the first set, it could have really went either way. My girls did an incredible job competing and executing the game plan. The game just didn’t end in our favor.  The second set we started a little slow but we hung with them for most of the set. The girls played intensely and competed for each rally.”

Mater Dei is playing this weekend in the Class 2A state tournament. 

Still, Columbia managed to win 31 matches and capture the Mississippi Division title in the Cahokia Conference this fall. In addition, the Eagles won the Edwardsville Tournament. 

“That is a lot of success,” Landgraf said. “The girls put a lot of work in during the summer to make this season great. Super proud of our team. It was a fun and rewarding season.”

Departing seniors for Columbia include Kate Adams, Elliana Ames, Megan Bolyard, Delaney Fitzgerald, Lucy Leitschuh and Ava Schmidt. 

Adams led the team in digs this season with 396. Bolyard led with 373 assists and also contributed 208 points. Ames finished with 198 points. 

Looking forward to 2025, Columbia has plenty of talent returning to the court – including juniors Kinley Jany (224 points), Maura Kohlenberger (89 blocks) and Ava Mathews (206 kills), plus sophomores Claire Sandstrom (297 kills) and Samantha Spruill (314 assists).

In fact, Sandstrom was named this week to the Illinois Volleyball Coaches Association Class 2A All-State Second Team for her amazing season.