The St. Joseph-Ogden boys’ soccer team will play for a Class 1A regional championship, the
Spartans volleyball team is on the cusp of a 20-win season and the SJO cross-country teams
begin the postseason on Saturday. Here is a recap of what has happened recently with SJO
sports:
In boys’ soccer Acosta, Stevens shine in regional semifinal win St. Joseph-Ogden will try
to win its third straight Class 1A regional championship on Friday afternoon.
The Spartans advanced to the Monticello Regional title match after a 6-2 win against
Oakwood/Salt Fork on Tuesday in a regional semifinal match in Monticello.
SJO (15-6-2) took a 3-0 lead in the first half off two goals from Lucas Stevens and another goal
from senior Tyler Hess before O/SF cut its deficit to 3-1.
That was the score at halftime before senior Yadi Acosta scored first in the second half to
increase the Spartans’ lead to 4-1 before O/SF trimmed its deficit to 4-2. But SJO responded,
with Acosta netting two more goals to seal the win and record a hat trick.
Along with his two goals, Stevens added two assists, while Hess, senior Nico Harris and senior
Skyler Graham also had an assist in the win.
SJO will now face host Monticello (12-4-5) at 4 p.m. on Friday in the regional championship
match. The two Illini Prairie Conference teams have played already this season, with the match
ending in a 2-2 tie in Monticello on Sept. 25.
If SJO can defeat the Sages, the Spartans would advance to the Rochester Sectional and take
on either Williamsville (17-4-2) or Athens/Greenview/Illini Central (16-5-2) at 7 p.m. next
Tuesday in a sectional semifinal match.
In volleyball Williams, McDonald deliver in wins Reaching 20 wins has become a common
milestone for St. Joseph-Ogden volleyball during coach Abby McDonald’s tenure. In fact, the
Spartans have done so 15 times since she became SJO’s coach in 2008.
But none since the 2023 season. That could change if the Spartans are able to earn a
postseason win next week.
SJO (19-14, 4-5 Illini Prairie) saw its four-game win streak, however, come to a halt after host
Chillicothe IVC defeated the Spartans 25-21, 25-10 on Thursday night. Prior to the match
against the Grey Ghosts, the Spartans defeated St. Thomas More 25-16, 25-22 on Tuesday
night at home in an Illini Prairie match. That came a day after SJO easily won 25-9, 25-11 at
Villa Grove on Monday night in a nonconference match.
The two wins to start this week happened after SJO went 2-2 this past Saturday at the
Moldenhauer Classic in Bradley. After sustaining losses against Rock Island and against
Newark, the Spartans ended their tournament stay with victories against Kankakee and Joliet
Central.
During the win against STM, senior Emerson Williams delivered offensively by producing a
match-high 12 kills. Fellow senior Hadley McDonald added six kills, while junior Vivian Smith
had four kills. Juniors Lyla Patton and Raegan Wheatley also chipped in with three kills apiece.
Junior Megan Kearney and senior Alivia Learned distributed the ball to SJO’s hitters as Kearney
finished with 13 assists and Learned handed out 12 assists. Learned also served two aces.
Junior Ava Alexander led the defensive effort with 14 digs.
In the win against Villa Grove, McDonald put down a team-high six kills and Williams was
equally efficient at the net with five kills. Smith (four kills) and senior Addi Stevens (three kills)
also contributed. Learned (nine assists) and Kearney (seven assists) ran the offense, while
Williams had two aces and junior Bella Frerichs made a team-high eight digs.
The Spartans now turn their attention to the Class 2A postseason. SJO will travel to Bismarck
next Tuesday night for a regional semifinal match against either Unity or Uni High. Those two
teams meet at 7 p.m. on Monday in a regional quarterfinal match, with the winners advancing to
play SJO at 7 p.m. the following night.
Host Bismarck-Henning/Rossville-Alvin tangles with Hoopeston Area at 6 p.m. next Monday in
the first regional quarterfinal match, with the winner of that moving on to play Westville at 6 p.m.
next Tuesday in the first regional semifinal match.
The two regional semifinal winners advance to play in the regional championship match at 6
p.m. next Thursday in Bismarck.
In cross-country Spartans start postseason run in Tuscola The regular season has ended
for St. Joseph-Ogden, and the Spartans will now focus on their first postseason assignment.
That assignment begins on Saturday morning at Wimple Park in Tuscola for a Class 1A regional
race. The girls’ are begins at 10 a.m., followed by the boys’ race at 10:45 a.m. SJO is one of 16
teams at the event, with Armstrong-Potomac, Bismarck-Henning/Rossville-Alvin,
Chrisman/Georgetown-Ridge Farm, Heritage, La Salette, Oakwood/Salt Fork, Paris, St. Thomas
More, Schlarman, Tri-County, Tuscola, Uni High, Unity, Villa Grove and Westville also slated to have teams in the field. Individuals from Champaign Academy High, Fisher and Gibson City- Melvin-Sibley are also expected to compete.
The top seven teams and the first five runners who are not members of the advancing teams will
move on to the Cumberland Sectional that will take place on October. 31 at Lake Land College
in Mattoon.
SJO ended the regular season last Saturday by running in the Patriot Invitational at Detweiller
Park in Peoria.
The Spartans’ boys’ team placed second out of 39 teams, while the Spartans’ girls’ team
finished fourth out of 26 teams.
On the boys’ side, senior Collin Burnett paced SJO by finishing sixth out of 299 runners with a
time of 15 minutes, 10.0 seconds. Freshman Camden Fisher was the next SJO runner to cross
the finish line, doing so in 15:39.6, and sophomore teammate Adam Bello was next by securing
a 14th-place finish in 15:42.9. Senior Nate Farney added a 24th-place finish in 15:55.4 and
senior Aiden Hundley rounded out the team score for SJO with a 53rd-place finish in 16:35.5.
That helped SJO finish with 94 points, just behind team champion Elmwood and its 88 points.
Delavan (132), Chillicothe IVC (168) and Monticello (192) rounded out the top five teams.
During the girls’ race, junior Grace Bressner led the way for SJO with a 10th-place finish out of
236 runners by clocking a time of 18:10.1. Sophomore Charlene Barbee placed 20th in 18:39.7
and junior Tessa Walker finished 23rd in 18:45.1 to give SJO three runners in the top 25.
Sophomore Allie Bott (66th place, 20:12.4) and freshman Alayna Nekolyn (151st place, 22:19.8)
also chipped in for the Spartans.
SJO accumulated a team score of 196. Shelbyville won the meet with 66 points, followed by
Elmwood (123), Athens (154), SJO and Mercer County (204) in the top five.
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