AUGUSTA, Ill. — Illini West was efficient and effective out on the volleyball court in the second day of the Lady Suns Classic on Wednesday.
The Chargers jumped out to big, early leads in both sets, defeating Camp Point Central 25-15 in the first set and 25-16 in the second set.
“I thought our momentum was so much better than it was last night,” said Illini West head coach Sawyer Johnson. “We’ve really just been working on different hitting combinations and things like that, and they were actually running and working tonight a lot better than they have been.”
The Chargers have won their first two games of the Lady Suns Classic after defeating Payson Seymour 2-0 on Tuesday evening.
“It’s nice to come in this place and see some really nice teams in the area,” said Johnson. “It’s always very enjoyable to see everybody and the local coaches.”
Central just was not able to keep up with the Illini West offensive attack.
“I knew Illini West was going to bring some offense and that’s one of our areas we’re trying to work on is our defensive outs of the match,” said Central head coach Sarah Bauer-Herron. We have a freshman and a sophomore out on the court tonight, so we’re working on different pieces of the puzzle.”
Central is coming off a season where they advanced to the sectional championship game, but graduated standouts such as Lauren Miller, Karly Peters and Kayli Bockhold from last year’s team.
“Everyone talks about what we lost and obviously that creates a huge hole when you’re looking at the seniors that we graduated last year,” said Bauer-Herron. “So we’re just trying to focus on the rebuilding this year and trying to find the right pieces. Trying to be a little bit more aggressive, so trying to find some people who can hit.”
It was the first night of the Lady Suns Classic for the Panthers, how did not play in the first night.
“The Southeastern tournament is always good at the beginning of the year to see where people are,” said Bauer-Herron. “A lot these teams you see a little bit in the summer, but it’s nice to see at the beginning of the season and throughout the season to kind of gauge how you’ve improved.”
Chargers senior middle hitter Kennedy Gunning had a team-high nine kills, while junior outside hitter Kennedy Artman collected seven kills.
“Both Kennedy’s just have done a really good job of getting the ball where it needs to go and being aggressive,” said Johnson. “So both of those players have done really well. Then, Corin (Robinson) always steps up as one of our setters, as well as being a leader out on the court.”
Illini West (6-3) will continue play in the Lady Suns Classic on Friday, facing Liberty at 4 p.m.
Central (0-3) will continue play in the Lady Suns Classic, facing Liberty at 4 p.m. on Thursday and Payson Seymour at 5 p.m. on Friday.