Saints are state champs again!

The St. Mary’s Saints have done it again.

Pontiac St. Mary’s defeated Kinderhook Western in the IESA 8th grade state volleyball championship Saturday at Bishop McNamara, 25-22 (Saints), 26-28 (Kinderhook) and 25-14 (Saints).

“I don’t know that they realized it as much as I did, but there was a lot of pressure on these girls to perform the same way they did last year and they’ve done that,” Coach Jill Francis told Eye On Central Illinois.

According to Coach Francis, the players dug deep and did what they needed to do in order to get to the point they were at.

The same team at St. Mary’s won the 7th grade state championship last year. They added three new players this year from Graymont since they joined the co-op, but it is the same team overall.

In game one, Alexis Legner had 4 passes and Izzy Hines with 3. For kills, Harper Francis had 3, Kendall Loyer with 2 and Bevin Brummel and Izzy Hinz with 1 each. Legner had 6 digs and Hinz 4.

Harper Francis, Bevin Brummel, McKenna Woodcock all had 3 points each while Izzy Hines and Alexis Legner had 2 each.

In game two, Bevin Brummel had 5 passes, Alexis Legner 4 and Izzy Hines with 3. Kendall Loyer had 6 kills, while Bevin Brummel, Alexis Legner and Izzy Hines each had 2 and Harper Francis with 1.

For digs, McKenna Woodcock had 6 while Bevin Brummel had 5. Izzy Hinz and Chloe Cox had 4 each.

Harper Francis had 5 points, Alexis Legner 3, Bevin Brummel 3, Izzy Hines 2 and Payton Rogers with 1.

In game three, Bevin Brummel had 4 passes while Alexis Legner and Izzy Hines had 1 each. Harper Francis and Alexis Legner each had 2 kills while Izzy Hines, Kendall Loyer and Bevin Brummel had 1 kill each.

For digs, Alexis Legner had 7, Bevin Brummel 5 and Harper Francis with 3.

Alexis Legner had 5 points, Bevin Brummel 4, Izzy Hines 3, and Harper Francis and McKenna Woodcock had 2 each.

Earlier in the day, St. Mary’s won over Washington St. Patrick in the semifinals, 25-18, 25-18.

In game one, Izzy Hinz had 4 passes. For kills, Harper Francis had 5, Izzy Hines 2 and Kendall Loyer, Bevin Brummel and Alexis Legner each with 1. For digs, Alexis Legner had 5, Payton Rogers 3 and Izzy Hines 4.

Payton Rogers had 5 points, Izzy Hines with 3 and Bevin Brummel, Alexis Legner and Harper Francis had 2 each.

In game two, McKenna Woodcock had 4 passes while Bevin Brummel had 3. For kills, Bevin Brummel had 5, Izzy Hines 3 and Kendall Loyer with 2.

Alexis Legner had 5 digs and McKenna Woodcock had 4.

For points, McKenna Woodcock had 4, while Bevin Brummel, Harper Francis and Alexis Legner had 3 each.