By Bobby Narang
As the Cinderella of the State volleyball tournament, Nazareth Academy had one more victory to conclude a storybook season.
After finishing with a 3-31 record, adding a new head coach with no ties to the program, the Roadrunners overcame a tough regular season schedule to punch a ticket for one of the four spots at the Class 3A State tournament at Illinois State University.
The Roadrunners added to their historic season by beating a highly touted Providence Catholic team in the state semifinal, sealing a trip to the state finals.
The State title match was the last place many in the program expected to be in 2025, especially with first-year coach Esai Velez bringing in a new philosophy.
But the Nazareth Roadrunners have overcome every obstacle throughout a memorable season, earning the program’s second trip to the State title match.
But Normal U-High picked up a big effort from senior outside hitter Laney Snow to post a 25-20, 25-20 victory over the Roadrunners to win their third State title in program history at Illinois State’s CEFCU Arena.
“This is an awesome team,” Nazareth coach Esai Velez said. “I’m very happy with them and an emotional because being here is a great opportunity with all that happened last year. I’m proud of this team and with what they’ve accomplished.”
The Roadrunners (22-18) fell just a few points short of notching the program’s second state championship in five years, although the second-place showing adds to a growing trophy case, which also includes a second-place effort in 2022 and a third-place medal in 2019.
Lexi Van Eekeren led the Roadrunners with five kills to go with eight digs, while Talia Surendran added four kills and 10 digs. Madeline Briscoe finished with 10 assists and seven digs and Tess Tortorello had 12 digs.
Manecke and senior outside hitter Beth Surowiec are the lone players left from the 2022 second-place team. Manecke said it was “surreal experience” returning to State as a senior compared to a freshman.
“Obviously, we’ve had very contrasting seasons,” Manecke said. “It’s been so amazing.”
Surowiec said finishing her career at state was the perfect ending.
“It was amazing,” she said. “It’s been so special and so different. I have to give credit to all the girls up here.”
In the Class 4A final, Benet suffered a tough 25-18, 25-17 loss to Marist to fall short of winning the program’s sixth State championship.
Benet (39-3) lost to Marist for the second straight season in the State title match, despite beating the RedHawks in two sets in the regular season.
Benet coach Brad Baker said the seniors made big strides for the program by becoming the first class to reach the State championship match four years in a row.
“We’re really proud of our senior class,” Baker said. “They are great people, great kids and competitive. They will be hard to replace. Next year we will have a new crew and have a new challenge.”
Benet had contributions from several players, namely star senior outside hitter Brooklynne Brass. The Maryland recruit capped her stellar career with 9 kills and 9 digs. Molly Welge collected 6 kills and Ellie Stiernagle had 16 assists and 7 digs.
Six-foot-5 senior middle hitter Lynney Tarnow, a Wisconsin recruit, took solace in making program history.
“No team has done this (at Benet) and that’s impressive enough,” Tarnow said. “Of course, it’s not what we wanted. You want the gold around your neck at the end of the day, but we have to give it up to the other team. They just outplayed us. I’ve loved these last four years. Even though this team was doubted, making it down here was huge. I’m so proud of these girls.