By Bobby Narang
After sealing a second straight State girls volleyball championship, Newark High School’s Megan Williams forever will be remembered in school lore.
A year ago, Williams was a wide-eyed freshman but she capped a stunning run by the Norsemen with the match-winning kill over Hartsburg-Emden in the Class 1A State championship match to give the program its first State championship.
Fast forward to Saturday, after another memorable run by the Norsemen, when Williams, a sophomore, pounded down a kill, off an assist from Taylor Christian, to deliver the championship-winning kill in a 25-19, 25-22 victory over Illini Bluffs in the 1A State championship match at Illinois State University in Normal.
“It was a surreal moment,” Williams said.
The Norsemen, 41-2, have won two consecutive State championships, a fourth-place trophy, and a total of 115 matches since Madi Malone joined the program. The junior outside hitter tallied 10 kills in the championship match Saturday.
Senior middle hitter Mattie Chapman said Malone’s next-level talent elevated the play of the entire program, and the their expectations. Newark head coach Tonya Grayson captured her 504th career victory Saturday.
“In our freshman year, coach called me and Meggie Scott to the front of the bus after a game,” she said. “She said, ‘You guys have talent, and Malone is coming up next year, I think you guys can get us to Redbird (Arena),’” Chapman said. “I was like, ‘No we can’t.’ But once I saw Madi Malone, I thought maybe we can. I knew she was good, but it’s hard to tell when you play for a little junior high school. We could not have done one bit of this without her. It’s amazing to see how far we’ve come.”
• In Class 4A, Benet Academy ended its State championship drought of five seasons by defeating Wheaton Warrenville South, 25-12, 25-16, Saturday to cap one of the best seasons in program history. The Redwings defeated nationally-ranked Marist in Friday’s semifinals.
“This team is going to go down as one of the best ever,” Benet head coach Brad Baker said. ”To win every (regular season) tournament, to win a conference championship, to run the table and not lose a set in the entire State tournament.
“I mean, we’ve dominated. We didn’t just win in the playoffs, we turned it up to a whole other level and I wasn’t sure we had another level. That’s hard to do when you play as well as we have all year.”
• In Class 3A, Sterling defeated Joliet Catholic Academy, 25-16, 25-19 in two sets to win the State championship, and Nazareth Academy defeated Normal, 25-16, 25-22, in the third-place match to claim the program’s first State trophy.
“Being on this team since freshman year, it’s been an amazing journey,” Nazareth senior Elizabeth Sandt said. “We went from being one of the worst teams in the Conference to one of the best. I think being a part of such a great (East Suburban Catholic) Conference exposed us to such great teams. We played some hard tournaments with Class 4A teams.
“It’s an amazing journey to watch our coaches lead us, from some teams that didn’t have such great seasons to now being one of the best teams in the State.”