ALAH volleyball places third in Olney tournament

By Editor | September 10, 2024 |

ALAH Volleyball 3rd at Olney Tournament! The ALAH high school Knights volleyball team played at the annual Olney Volleyball Tournament on Saturday, September 7. It was a long but profitable day as the Knights came away with third place in the 16 team tourney. Savannah Butcher and Alayna Plank were named to the All Tournament Team. Pictured here at the end of the day are Bella Romine, Brynlee Moore, Karaline Vanausdoll, Savannah Butcher, Alayna Plank and Annabelle Vanausdoll. Back row: Leighton Poulos, Sara Herschberger, Summer Melton, Mackenzie Condill, Maggie Benedict, Addison Yeakel, and Makenna Blaudow.

By Mike Monahan

OLNEY – In a busy week that saw the Arthur Lovington Atwood Hammond volleyball team play seven matches, the Knights went 5-2, including 3-2 in the Olney Tournament Saturday, good for a third place finish.

The Knights started off with three, three set victories over Tolono Unity (22-25, 25-19, 17-15), Olney (28-26, 22-25, 15-12) and Effingham St. Anthony (25-22, 10-25, 15-11). The two losses were in two sets as ALAH fell to Newton 25-22, 26-24 and Fairfield 25-10, 25-19.

The Knights, a Class 2A team, played Unity, Newton and Fairfield that were all Class 2A teams plus Class 3A Olney.

Making the all-tournament team were Savannah Butcher and Alyana Plank.

Last Thursday the Knights fell to Decatur St. Teresa in three sets 12-25, 25-23, 25-20 and Sept. 3 swept Chrisman 25-17, 25-11.

For the seven matches Karaline Vanasduoll had 79 digs to lead the team, while Butcher had 54 kills, Summer Melton had 50 kills and freshman Bella Romine had 42. Plank had a team-high 172 assists, while Butcher was tops in blocks with 4.5. Leading in aces was Mackenzie Condill with seven.

The Knights entered Thursday’s Lincoln Prairie Conference opener at Argenta-Oreana with a 5-4 record.

Saturday at Olney tournament; def. Tolono Unity 22-25, 25-19, 17-15; def. Olney 28-26, 22-25, 15-12; def. Effingham St. Anthony 25-22, 10-25, 15-11; lost to Newton 25-22, 26-24; lost to Fairfield 25-10, 25-19

Tournament totals: Karaline Vansudoll 2 aces, 1 kill, 52 digs, 9 assists; Annabelle Vanausdoll 4 aces, 24 digs; Mackenzie Condill 1 ace, 23 digs, 1 assist; Sara Hershbeger 2 aces, 19 digs; Brynlee Moore 3 kills; Summer Melton 2 aces, 27 kills, 0.5 blocks,9 digs; Bella Romine 29 kills, 5 blocks, Leighton Poulos 2 aces, 1 block, 3 digs, 1 assist; Maggie Benedict 6 kills, 0.5 blocks, 6 digs; Addison Yeakel 1 dig; McKenna Blaudow 28 kills, 1 block, 7 digs; Alyana Plank 2 aces, 2 kills, 14 digs, 107 assists; Savannah Butcher 33 kills, 3.5 blocks, 6 digs
Decatur St. Teresa def. ALAH 12-25, 25-23, 25-20 Sept. 5

Karaline Vanausdoll 9 digs, 4 assists; Condill 3 aces, 5 digs; Herschberger 1 dig; Melton 13 kills, 0.5 blocks, 3 digs; Romine 4 kills, 3 blocks; Leighton Poulos 1 kill, 0.5 blocks, 0.5 assists; Benedict 2 kill, 0.5 blocks; Blaudow 4 kills; Plank 2 aces, 1.5 blocks, 3 digs, 27 assists; Butcher 10 kills, 1 block, 2 digs

JV: ALAH )(4-0) def. Decatur St. Teresa 25-14, 21-25, 15-9

ALAH def. Chrisman 25-17, 22-25, 25-11 Sept. 3

ALAH: Karaline Vanausdoll 1 ace, 18 digs, 1 assist; Annabelle Vanausdoll 1 dig; Condill 3 aces, 10 digs, 1 assist; Hershberger 3 digs; Melton 1 ace, 10 kills, 5 digs; Romine 9 kills, 2 blocks; Benedict 4 kills, 1 block; Blaudow 4 kills, 2 digs; Plank 1 ace, 1 kill, 9 digs, 38 assists; Butcher 6 aces, 11 kills, 2 digs.

JV: ALAH (3-0) def. Chrisman 25-20, 25-22