SJO volleyball cruises to three straight road wins

So far, the road has not produced any bad results for the St. Joseph-Ogden High School volleyball team.

The Spartans (3-1) will carry a three-match win streak into Tuesday’s 7 p.m. home match against Cissna Park after starting off the season with four matches in a five-day span. All three of SJO’s wins have come on the road.

SJO opened the season with a 25-23, 15-25 loss at home to Decatur St. Teresa on Aug. 27 before responding with a commanding 25-8, 25-2 win at Georgetown-Ridge Farm on Aug. 28. SJO then won 25-15, 25-13 at Bismarck-Henning/Rossville this past Thursday night before defeating host Mahomet-Seymour 25-16, 25-12 this past Saturday.

Sophomore Kennedi Burnett paced SJO with 11 kills against St. Teresa, while seniors Katelyn Berry and Lacey Kaiser each finished with seven kills. Senior Emily Bigger contributed 26 assists and seven digs, while Berry produced a team-high 10 digs and senior Rylee Stahl chipped in with eight digs. Burnett led SJO with two aces.

Burnett had a team-high five kills in the win against Georgetown-Ridge Farm, while Berry and junior Payton Vallee each produced four kills and senior Stephanie Trame added three klils. Bigger distributed 18 assists to go along with four digs, while Stahl (seven digs), Berry (three aces) and Burnett (five digs) also helped out in the lopsided win.

Berry was efficient at the net for SJO in its win against BHRA with a team-high nine kills, while Kaiser added six kills. Bigger, Burnett and senior Jenna Albrecht all had three kills. Bigger nearly finished with a double-double by compiling 22 assists and nine digs, with Burnett (nine digs), Kaiser (seven digs) and Stahl (seven digs) chipping in defensively.

Five Spartans had at least two kills in the nonconference win at Mahomet-Seymour. Burnett led the way with nine kills, while Berry (six kills), Trame (four kills), Kaiser (three kills) and Vallee (two kills) all got in on the offensive fun.

Bigger had 21 assists and five digs, with Kaiser also contributing five digs.

SJO is slated to play twice this week against nonconference foes, first by hosting Cissna Park on Tuesday night and then traveling to play at Teutopolis at 7 p.m. on Thursday.