River Grove, IL – For the third time in four seasons, the Carl Sandburg College volleyball team is headed to nationals.
The Chargers punched their ticket to the NJCAA Division II National Championships with a 22-25, 25-14, 25-23, 26-24 victory over Triton on Friday in the championship match of the Region IV District B tournament. Sandburg (10-8), the No. 4 seed in the tournament, advances to the national tournament April 13-15 in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
The Chargers shrugged off a first-set loss and won behind a stellar all-around performance from All-Region selection Carley Reeves-Eakins (Branson, Mo./Reeds Spring), who led Sandburg with 19 kills and four aces, tied Gracie Rademaker (Green Valley, Ill./Midwest Central) for the team lead with three blocks and added 12 digs.
Setter Carmyn Baldwin (Lewistown, Ill./Lewistown) delivered 37 assists and 18 digs, and Jerzi Johnson (Monmouth, Ill./United) and Annie McKim (Yates City, Ill./homeschooled) each had seven kills for the Chargers. Libero Kelsey Hobson (Bartonville, Ill./Limestone) picked up a team-best 21 digs.
Third-seeded Triton (10-5) used an 8-0 run to rally from a 17-12 deficit to take the first set before the Chargers dominated the second to even the match.
Tied at 22 in the third, a Trojans service error gave Sandburg the lead, and Baldwin followed with a kill on a dump to set up set point. After a Triton kill, Reeves-Eakins put down a kill of her own to put the Chargers ahead two sets to one.
A Megan Crome (Marshall, Ill./Marshall) kill capped a 5-0 Sandburg run on Rademaker’s serve for a 20-15 Chargers lead, but the Trojans fought back to even the set at 22, 23 and 24. Baldwin fed Reeves-Eakins for a kill to set up Sandburg’s second championship point before McKim and Crome made a combo block to clinch the Chargers’ third region title since 2017.
***Story courtesy of Carl Sandburg College Athletics***
