The Galena High School Varsity Volleyball team has had yet another successful season before going into the postseason.
The Pirates currently have a 12-0 conference record putting them in 1st place. Overall, the Lady Pirates have a 34-1-1 record, almost an undefeated season.
A couple of weekends ago, the team took the runner up title at the Champaign-St. Thomas More tournament, losing to the #1 team in Class 1A volleyball, the St. Thomas More Sabers. “It was a good game, I feel like if we see them again at a later date, we can definitely bring the heat and beat them,” said Paeton Hyde ‘23.
This week, the Pirates began their postseason by hosting regionals.
On Monday, October 25, the Scales Mound Hornets took on the Pirates biggest rivals, the East Dubuque Warriors.
The Warriors, had a 6-5 conference record lost to the Hornets, who have a 4-8 record in conference. This meant that the Hornets would take on the Pirates on Wednesday, Oct. 27.
On Wednesday, Galena faced Scales Mound, and the Durand Bulldogs took on the Stockton Blackhawks.
The Pirates took the court first, hoping to move on to the next round of Regionals. The Pirates defeated the Hornets 25-9 in the first match and 25-12 in the second match.
In the second game of the night with Durand beat Stockton 2-0, 25-17 in the first match, and 25-15 in the second match.
Durand would take on the Pirates the next day. “We knew going into the first round that Scales Mound would be a pretty easy game, but we would still have to stay focused,” said Julia Townsend ‘23. “Going into the championship, we knew Durand would be a tough game since we played them earlier in the season, but we knew that we could pull off a win.”
On Thursday, Durand showed up to Galena ready to give them a run for their money. In the first match, the Pirates won in a close, hard fought match of 25-22.
In the second match, Durand was up for most of the set until the Pirates made an unbelievable comeback winning the second set, 25-20.
The GHS Varsity Volleyball team was declared the IHSA Regional Champions for the 2021 season.
The Pirates will head to Elgin, Illinois on Monday, Nov. 1, to compete for the Sectional title. “I’m really excited to cheer my team on in the big Sectional match,” said Gwen Hesselbacher ‘23.