What Happened: The volleyball team hosted a highly-ranked Rockford squad for a much-anticipated regional finals matchup. A jam-packed home gym and student section showed up in full force to support their fellow Buccaneers. The team came out competitive against strong opposition, but ultimately couldn’t pull off a big win against the Rams. They fell in all three sets by scores of 25-23, 25-22 and 25-10.

What It Means: The Bucs’ thrilling postseason run has come to an end after falling just one win short of making the state tournament.

Key Moment: After two close and competitive sets, the team looked jaded in the last set. All of the 50-50 balls seemed to fall Rockford’s way, sealing the fate of the match.

Three Stars:

• First Star: Junior Ashley Slater. Slater had 11 kills and led the offensive attack for the Buccaneers on the night.
• Second Star: Sophomore Mackenzie Gross. She had eight kills against the Rams and was dangerous during any opportunity she had to finish out an attack.
• Third Star: Senior Baby Hang. The senior recorded 13 digs, and made several extra-effort digs to prevent the Rams from scoring several times in the match.

They Said It: “It was a hard way to end,” head coach Aaron Smaka said. “But our kids never quit fighting. I was really glad that we played as well as we did in the first two sets to be in it, but it just was not our night.”