The Kickapoo volleyball program will play for a state championship for the third time in program history and first time since 1994 after beating St. Dominic 3-2 in the Class 5 state semifinals on Thursday.
The Lady Chiefs dominated the first set against St. Dominic with a 25-17 win. St. Dominic responded by taking the next two sets 25-22 and 25-17, which put Kickapoo’s back against the wall.
Kickapoo came out on fire in the fourth set jumping out to a quick 4-1 lead. The Lady Chiefs expanded that lead out to eight with a 19-11 lead.
St. Dominic then battled back.
The Lady Crusaders went on a 10-3 run to cut Kickapoo’s lead to one at 22-21. Kickapoo scored the next two points to get it to a 24-21 advantage before finishing the set off at 25-23 to force a deciding fifth set.
It was all Kickapoo in the final set.
The Lady Chiefs jumped out to leads of 5-1, 8-2 and then 12-4 before Bella Faria put the match away with a kill to make it 15-10.
Faria led Kickapoo with 16 kills in the match. Parker Papa and Grace Gardner each had eight kills for the Lady Chiefs. Claire Doennig and Jenna Perryman were just behind them with seven kills each. Hannah Gardner added in six kills.
Reagan Greenway had 21 assists for Kickapoo with Hannah Gardner contributing 16 assists. Kya Johnson led Kickapoo in digs with 16.
Kickapoo, seeking the program’s first state title, will face six-time state champion Lafayette (Wildwood) for the Class 5 state championship at 10 am on Friday. Lafayette and Kickapoo met in the Lafayette Tournament with the Lancers sweeping Kickapoo 25-16, 25-20.
Kickapoo is 1-5 against Lafayette since 2010 with the one victory being a 2-0 sweep in the Springfield Classic in 2010.
