Rochester volleyball's record-setting season ends with sectional loss to Normal West

ROCHESTER — Normal West’s Averie Hernandez is committed to Northwestern for a reason.

The imposing senior outside hitter garnered a match-high 16 kills and the Wildcats dispatched host Rochester 25-17, 25-19 in the Class 3A sectional final at the Rochester Athletic Complex on Wednesday.

Normal West (32-6) advances to the Taylorville Supersectional and faces the host Tornadoes (35-4) at 7 p.m. on Friday. Taylorville won the Bethalto Civic Memorial Sectional final against Waterloo 25-20, 25-22.

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“She’s just such a force,” Normal West coach Kelsey Mueller said. “I wasn’t sure, waiting for somebody to be able to stop her this year, but she’s consistently double-digit kills every match.

“She’s an even better person off the floor. She’s a great leader, kind, funny and she’s not afraid to laugh at herself. She doesn’t take things too seriously. She’s just really a dream to coach.”

ROCHESTER MAKES LATE MOVE

Normal West's Averie Hernandez (10) loads up a kill against Rochester during the Class 3A Sectional Championship at the Rochester Athletic Complex in Rochester, Ill., Wednesday, November 3, 2021. [Justin L. Fowler/The State Journal-Register]
Normal West's Averie Hernandez (10) loads up a kill against Rochester during the Class 3A Sectional Championship at the Rochester Athletic Complex in Rochester, Ill., Wednesday, November 3, 2021. [Justin L. Fowler/The State Journal-Register]

The Rockets (33-5) had an opportunity to take the lead late in the second set. Senior right-side hitter Tori Taylor blocked Hernandez for a point and served up an ace to tie the match 17-17.

But a couple of defensive lapses near the back line lifted Normal West back ahead 19-17.

“I feel like it was just a little, too little too late,” Taylor said. “I think morale was just kind of down in the first set and a half. We tried to put it in gear but at that point they already had the momentum.”

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Normal West junior setter Sydney Sennett followed with back-to-back assists to freshman outside hitter Ellie Rink for a 23-19 advantage. Sennett, a three-year starter, capped off the final stretch with a diving assist to Rink to win the match.

“They obviously had some great hitters and we couldn’t stop them,” Rochester coach Kallie Sinkus said. “In the moment where we were hanging with them, we were doing great but the aggressive and the ‘we got this’ mentality wasn’t there. They’re a good team. We could’ve played a little better but even then, are they the better team tonight? Yes.”

NORMAL WEST'S SPECIAL CONNECTION

Rochester's Kaylen Reed (1) slides across the floor to dig out a hit from Normal West during the Class 3A Sectional Championship at the Rochester Athletic Complex in Rochester, Ill., Wednesday, November 3, 2021. [Justin L. Fowler/The State Journal-Register]
Rochester's Kaylen Reed (1) slides across the floor to dig out a hit from Normal West during the Class 3A Sectional Championship at the Rochester Athletic Complex in Rochester, Ill., Wednesday, November 3, 2021. [Justin L. Fowler/The State Journal-Register]

Sennett had 28 assists while Rink had six kills and three aces.

“I think she works really hard to find our hitters in the best position possible and she just does so much more,” Mueller said of Sennett. “She does a great job behind the service line, she plays great defense, she does a great job blocking. But those two (Sennett and Hernandez) connecting is really something special.”

Hernandez smashed the ball on both sides of the net and had eight kills by the end of the first set.

Taylor, a senior right-side hitter, knows a thing or two about Hernandez. They’ve played together on the Illini Elite Volleyball Club in Bloomington.

“Averie’s amazing,” Taylor said. “I’ve played with her in club and she’s always on and always that good.”

LEAVING A MARK FOR ROCHESTER

Normal West's Averie Hernandez (10) blocks a hit from Rochester's Natori Rose (7) during the Class 3A Sectional Championship at the Rochester Athletic Complex in Rochester, Ill., Wednesday, November 3, 2021. [Justin L. Fowler/The State Journal-Register]
Normal West's Averie Hernandez (10) blocks a hit from Rochester's Natori Rose (7) during the Class 3A Sectional Championship at the Rochester Athletic Complex in Rochester, Ill., Wednesday, November 3, 2021. [Justin L. Fowler/The State Journal-Register]

Junior hitter Emma Dixon provided a spark in the middle. She led Rochester with six kills.

“Emma made some great choices,” Sinkus said. “She was putting the ball down even when she wasn’t swinging. She was trying her hardest and that’s all you can do in those moments. Even if you believe the other team is better, you still got to try.”

Taylor, who will play at NCAA Division-III Washington University in St. Louis, finished with four kills, four digs, one block and one ace. Senior setters Hannah Tinder and Lauren Bloom had seven and five assists, respectively.

Junior libero Kaylen Reed collected a team-high 10 digs. Bloom and Jenna Dorman additionally had four digs apiece.

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Rochester exits with the most wins in school history after going 18-0 over the shortened spring season. Taylor said she was grateful to play alongside her teammates.

“After not having postseason last year, obviously it was great to have a regular season and go like we did far into the postseason,” Sinkus said. “I will miss the seniors a ton. All six of them (Taylor, Dorman, Tinder, Bloom, Natori Rose and Francesca Torricelli) played and we’ve never had that before, so to have them be gone is a lot of shoes to fill since a lot of them contributed quite a bit. That’s going to be our goal next year: to try to rebuild and try to do this again.”

AT BETHALTO

Summer Brandis led Taylorville with 24 assists in its sectional final win over Waterloo.

Teammate Hannah Clayton generated 10 kills and nine digs while Elle Richards and Abby Heberling had five kills apiece. Mazie Fleming added six kills and two blocks while Sam Logue delivered two aces.

Contact Bill Welt: bill.welt@sj-r.com, Twitter.com/BillWelt

This article originally appeared on State Journal-Register: IHSA volleyball: Northwestern commit Averie Hernandez for Rochester