Senior class accomplishes final goal

By Editor | October 31, 2012 |

Prior to the season, the Vandalia volleyball team set four major goals for the season, and with last Thursday’s win in the regional championship game, all four have been accomplished.

The Lady Vandals (25-5) set goals of winning championships in the Altamont Tournament, Vandalia Tournament, South Central Conference and Regional Tournament.

“This group is so focused and determined,” said coach Allison Smith said. “They are so eager to get everything they want, and they aren’t ready to quit yet.”

The first goal was achieved on Sept. 1 by defeating Beecher City, Lincolnwood, South Central and Cumberland to win the Altamont Tournament.

Those wins gave Vandalia a 6-0 record.

“We work so well together,” said senior Sierah Ruffner. “We set our minds to something, and whenever we have done that, we’ve gotten it done.”

Next up was the Vandalia Tournament on Sept. 15, and with wins against Brownstown, East Alton-Wood River, Carlyle and South Central, the Lady Vandals had their second tournament title and a 13-0 record.

And though the team would lose to Pana in a game on Sept. 20, it did not count in the conference standings, and with wins against the rest of the conference schools leading into the Oct. 18 conference game with Pana, it set up quite a battle.

Vandalia came away victorious, with a 25-23, 25-20 defeat of the Lady Panthers to win the conference for the first time since 2008, checking off the third goal of the season.

“We haven’t all played together since day one, but we have some great chemistry on the court,” said senior RaeChelle Leiken. “I don’t know why we are, but we are so great together.”

Leiken, who transferred from Oregon as a junior, and senior Austyn Krueger, who transferred from the Chicago area as a sophomore, never seemed to miss a beat fitting in with the rest of this season’s senior class.

And the group worked as one cohesive unit last Thursday, knocking off Flora, 25-18, 25-18 to accomplish the final – and most important – goal of the season.

“We came in every day at practice and knew what we wanted,” Krueger said. “It’s like a dream with a perfect ending.”

That dream came to end on Tuesday, however, as the Lady Vandals were defeated by Pana, 16-25, 25-23, 19-25, in the semifinals of the Class 2A sectional at Cumberland. Their final record was 25-6.