Crete-Monee’s girls tennis team has broken Kankakee’s three-year stronghold on the Southland Athletic Conference tournament.
On Oct. 8, the Warriors ended the Kays’ streak by winning the Southland title, scoring 17 points to the Kays’ 16 in Kankakee.
First singles player Hala Ghaben and the first doubles team of Savannah and Samantha Lascam were conference champs for the Warriors.
The Warriors are in the Class 1A Chicago University Sectional on Oct. 16-17.
Benck 20th in state golf
In his first career state appearance, Beecher sophomore Jacob Benck finished 20th in Class 1A with a two-round total of 144 on Oct. 9-10 at the Prairie Vista Golf Course in Bloomington.
Benck shot a 78 in the first round with back-to-back birdies on the fourth and fifth holes.
On the second day, not only did he birdie the fourth and fifth holes again, he also birdied the ninth and 10th en route to a 76.
To get to state, Benck fired a 78 in the Peoria Christian Sectional.
Top-seed Manteno still perfect
Manteno’s girls volleyball team ended last week with a 25-0 mark after beating Coal City, 25-17, 15-25, 25-19 in a home match on Oct. 8 in the Illinois Central Eight.
Hours before that matchup, the IHSA announced its postseason seedings and the Panthers drew the top seed in Sub-Sectional A at the Class 2A Chicago Christian Sectional.
Chicago Christian (22-8 through last week) was seeded second. Last season, Chicago Christian knocked the Panthers out of the postseason with a 25-19, 25-19 win.
They haven’t lost since.
Manteno opens play in the postseason at 6 p.m. Oct. 27 when it faces either Southland or Carver at the Southland Regional.
Peotone drew the fifth seed and Beecher the sixth.
Heading into this week, senior middle hitter and Olivet Nazarene-bound Maddie Gesky was leading the Panthers with 166 kills and 68 blocks.
Danika Fletcher led with 273 assists and 25 aces, while Morgan Derrico had 341 digs.
Manteno was ranked fourth in the state in Class 2A by Illinois Prep Volleyball behind Rochester, Richmond-Burton and Red Bud.
Manteno girls race to win
Host Manteno’s girls cross country team won the Kankakee All-Area title on Oct. 7, 64-67 over runner-up Bradley-Bourbonnais.
Sophomore DeLanie Monroe led the Panthers, taking fifth with a time of 20 minutes 10.75 seconds.
Beecher sophomore Rachel Imig led all Vedette-area runners with a fourth-place finish with a 20:08.97.
In the boys race, Manteno freshman Noah Nevel was the top Vedette-area placer at 26th with a 17:48.31.