Plainfield High School

The Plainfield High School volleyball team captured the regional championship this past Saturday with a dominant three-set victory over Lawrence North (25–16, 25–15, 25–16). The win propels the Quakers to the semi-state round, where they will face Castle High School at 10:30 a.m. Saturday morning at Martinsville High School. The Quakers were solid on both sides of the ball throughout the night. Charlee Groninger led the offense with 36 assists, setting up an efficient attack. Audrey Utterback powered through with 17 kills and 8 digs, while Marley VanWanzeele was a force in the middle, adding 13 kills and 3 blocks. Defensively, Taylor Donovan anchored the back row with 19 digs, including an incredible baseline save early in the match to keep a key rally alive. Savannah Brock contributed 15 digs, and Evie Ellis tallied 16 digs to round out the team’s strong defensive effort. Coach Pax praised the team’s preparation and execution, saying: "I'm just truly proud of them. They came to play. They prepared all week and executed the game plan at a very high level. The service pressure was instrumental in putting the other team out of their system, and putting us in system so we couldl run our offense! Charlee did a great job dishing to our go to hitters. Audrey U and Marley V led the way with 17 kills and 13 kills! Our littles did an amazing job at defense and ball control. The belief they have in each other is amazing. This is such a special group of young ladies!! They worked so hard for this and deserve it. We won, but we are not done. There is a lot of volleyball left for this amazing team!" With the regional title in hand, the Quakers now look to continue their postseason run Saturday at Martinsville. *Photograph credits to Matt Edwards*