Illiana girls volleyball team loses in sectional final
Oak Forest eliminates Vikings for second straight season
CRETE | They say all good things must come to an end.
Illiana Christian tried to prove that old cliche wrong Thursday night, but the Vikings came up just short.
Top-seeded Oak Forest handed the No. 2 Vikings just their second loss of the year, ousting Illiana from the postseason with a 25-17, 25-15 win the Class 3A Crete-Monee Sectional championship match.
The loss ended Illiana's 22-match winning streak.
"I knew we were going to be good, but this good," senior Jessica Wiltjer said. "This was the best team ever. We just had so much fun all the time together."
The Vikings (31-2) jumped out to an early 2-0 lead, but soon found themselves in trouble at the net.
Oak Forest's Natalie Fiore had four block assists in the first game as the Bengals took the lead and eventually pulled away.
"They're a good team," Illiana coach Nikki DeMik said of the Bengals. "They're precise, they're quick, and they played well. Right now I'm emotional, and I really couldn't tell you what they did better than us."
The Illiana offense began to find a groove in the second game. Wiltjer picked up five of her team-high seven kills, and fellow senior Ally Vree added four.
But errors, including four from the service line, would cost the Vikings in the second game as once again Oak Forest managed to pull away.
Vree finished with six kills, and Nadine Krzyston added 14 assists in the final game of her high school career.
Emotions on the Illiana bench ran high after the loss, not just for the players, but for DeMik. Aside from the 31 wins, the first-year head coach guided her team to its first sectional appearance in 3A.
"This has been the best season that (assistant) coach Kara (Kramer) or I could ever have dreamed of," DeMik said. "We had amazing girls and a wonderful season. I never in my wildest dreams thought we would be this successful."
GIRLS VOLLEYBALL
Class 3A Crete-Monee Sectional
Championship
Oak Forest 25-25, Illiana Christian 17-15
Nadine Krzyston had 14 assists for the Vikings.
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