In past years, the Macomb High and Quincy Notre Dame volleyball squads have battled plenty in postseason competition.
For the first set of Tuesday’s Illinois High School Association Class 2A Regional semifinal at Illini West High School in Carthage, it was not much of a battle as QND rolled to a 25-13 victory.
But the Bombers did not go down with a fight in set two, rallying from a five-point mid-set deficit before finally succumbing to the Raiders 25-21 in seeing their season end.
Macomb, the No. 7 sub-sectional seed, had opened regional play Monday evening, escaping with a hard-fought 25-15, 29-31, 25-22 win over No. 9 seed Farmington.
MHS finished the season with a final record of 18-17. Farmington wrapped up its year with a final record of 4-31.
Tuesday’s loss marked the first time since 2017 that MHS lost a regional semifinal. That occurred in Class 3A against Peoria Notre Dame.
It was also the first time since 2017 that the Bombers finished with fewer than 20 wins in a season. That squad finished 18-15.
That does not include the COVID-19 impacted year of 2020 that limited play and no state tournament was conducted.
MHS entered the 2026 season with just one returning starter from a year ago and had just one senior on its roster.
“We’ve been young,” said MHS coach Marcy Lantz.
“Not to use their youth as an excuse for their play, but experience counts for a lot of things.”
“Giving them grace on their age and their lack of experience has been important,” she added. “I know that in the future they’re going to do well for the next couple of years because they’re going to have the whole entire starting lineup returning.”
The scores against QND were eerily similar to their meeting Oct. 7 at “The Pit” that saw the Raiders win 25-13, 25-21.
In Tuesday’s rematch, QND, the No. 2 seed, built an 18-6 lead through the first rotation.
“I think we psyched ourselves out,” said Lantz of the first set. “We were just playing scared.”
“We watched (QND) in warmups and they were dropping (kills) on the 10-foot line,” she added. “It was a little intimidating and I think that’s what they were anticipating.”
“I think we just psyched ourselves out from the getgo.”
Set two saw the Bombers maintain the upper hand, until a five-point run by QND broke an 8-8 tie.
But MHS did not go away, getting within one point three times. The final time being 22-21 on a Reva Koeppen kill.
“We had been often doing a lot of tipping and we needed to swing away into the block,” said Lantz. “Tipping is effective and we can get points and kills off of tips. But when we do tip, they can set the ball right back up and put it right down at us. That puts us at a a disadvantage, so we have to swing away.”
The Bombers were unable to get over the hump however as the Raiders scored the final three points in closing out the 42-minute match.
“We short-changed ourselves in the first set,” said Lantz. “We talked a little bit in between sets that we couldn’t give up and had to lay it all on the line.”
“They absolutely, positively did that in the second set,” she added. “That to me is the epitome of the future of Macomb volleyball.”
Stat leaders for the Bombers included the following: Jersee Mills – 5 kills Reva Koeppen – 4 kills Dehlia Graham – 2 kills, 1 service aces and 1 block Myleigh Lovell – 10 digs and 1 service ace Anistyn Lovell – 14 set assists Against Farmington, the Bombers captured the opening set and had several opportunities to close out the match in two sets, only to see the Farmers force a third set.
Stats for the Bombers against the Farmers were as follows: Graham – 10 kills, 3 service aces, 3 block assists and 1 dig Anistyn Lovell – 25 set assists, 9 digs, 7 service aces and 2 kills Koeppen – 9 kills, 7 digs and 1 block assist Mills – 3 kills and 9 digs Ashtyn Shoopman – 3 kills, 1 block assist Myleigh Lovell – 8 digs, 2 service aces and 1 set assist Kate Rector – 16 digs and 1 service ace Tuesday’s loss also brought the curtain down for Megan Redding, the team’s lone senior.
“She’s just a great teammate,” said Lantz of Redding. “Her and Mackenzie Hotz both. They are both great teammates.”
“She doesn’t get as much credit I think as she deserves for being a great teammate,” Lantz added.
While the remainder of the team is slated to return next season, the big question is who will be coaching the squad.
“They worked hard all season,” said Lantz. “I was super-proud of them. It’s been fun to be back in the gym with them, so we’ll see what the future holds for them moving forward.”
One person who will not be the new coach is Lantz.
“It’s been fun,” she said. “But I’m in a different season of life right now. My kids are grown.”
“I did it for 12 years,” Lantz added. “I love being in the gym. I loved every minute of my tenure. But to do this full time again and dedicate summers, and weekends, and off-seasons, and all those sorts of things, I’m not (ready to do that again).”
“I’m sad. I’m feeling like I’m leaving the girls with an unknown of what next year is going to look like, and what that’s going to be or who they’re going to get (as coach),” she continued. “But I told the girls that my door is always open if they need anything. If they want to come workout in the gym. If they need anything to give me a call.”
“I’ll be there for them. I will support them to the enth degree,” Lantz concluded. “But as for doing this again full time, I think that ship has sailed.”
Meanwhile, Tuesday’s second semifinal saw No. 6 seed PORTA/A-C Central upset No. 3 seed Illini West 28-26, 25-23.
Illini West finishes 24-12. QND (24-12) was to face PORTA/A-C Central (18-14) Thursday evening in Carthage for the Class 2A Regional title.
The victors move on to Class 2A Sectional play next week at Farmington.
