East Peoria, Ill. - Saturday set up for an exciting District Tournament, as the ICC Volleyball team (28-15) was looking to win it for the third consecutive season. They were able to rebound from an opening-set loss to Southwestern Illinois in the semifinal to take the next three for a four-set win. However, the District Championship, a rematch against Heartland from ICC's five-set win just 25 days prior, did not finish as well. The Hawks had control from the start, only allowing the Cougars into the 20's one time in a three-set sweep. With the title match loss, ICC's volleyball season ends short of the National Tournament for the first time since 2018. 

District Semifinal vs. Southwestern Illinois:
First Set; SWIC 22-25
The Cougars were able to draw an attack error on the left side into the antenna, with ICC going for a double block at the time. It gave the Cougars a 12-8 lead and forcing a timeout by the Blue Storm. After what initially looked like an overdig for SWIC, the Blue Storm were able to send it, and a deflection went backward and gave a difficult angle for either Ashlyn Mool or Hope Allen in the back row, and SWIC had tied the set back up at 18. The late-set run by the visitors forced a timeout from head coach Tracy Heffren. The Blue Storm would be the first team to 20 on an ICC attack error, going up 20-18. Allen would let a long serve go out past the back row for the Cougars' 20th point to get within 22-20. A perfectly placed serve by SWIC put them at set point, 24-20. ICC made a late attempt at it, with a Gracie Schultz kill making the Blue Storm wait for their set-winning point, setting it at 24-21. Schultz was able to clear the net for a point after SWIC did not go for a block attempt. That would conclude ICC's scoring, and the Blue Storm would eventually take the set, 25-22. 

Second Set; ICC 25-10
With the Cougars down the initial set, they had the set break to regroup, and regroup they did. A SWIC attack error put the Cougars ahead 5-1. More errors plagued the Blue Storm, as the Cougars got a five-point lead at 8-3. An ace from Brooke Ely had ICC in control at 12-3. Raquel Frakes would roll a kill over to make it 13-3. A Halle Peterson block in the middle put the Cougars up 14-3. SWIC would get a kill on an attack from the left side to tally a point after ICC had gone on an 8-0 run. Peterson would load up for a big swing from the middle for a kill to increase their lead to 18-4. Next, it was Gracie Schultz that got a kill at the middle to make ICC the first team to 20, going up 20-6. Schultz tapped a SWIC return over, one the Blue Storm were unable to get to and make it set point Cougars. Another Schultz kill wrapped up the set at 25-10. 

Third Set; ICC 25-19
The third set was off to quite the even start, all the way until 10-10, with neither team securing an extensive lead. The Cougars would go on a 5-1 run, capped by a Blue Storm attack error to put ICC up 15-11 and forcing a SWIC timeout. Hannah Alvey's attack was blocked, but out for an ICC point and a 20-14 score. Another Ely ace put the Cougars up 22-16 and force the visitors to call time. Alvey would return the favor from her blocked attack earlier and get a block of her own to make it set point ICC at 24-18. Ashlyn Mool would wrap it up with a kill from the left side at 25-19. 

Fourth Set; ICC 25-10
Alvey worked an attack through the block on the left side for a kill and a 10-4 lead. The Blue Storm were unable to return a Gracie Schultz block, giving ICC an 18-7 lead. A SWIC error increased that to 20-7. An attack from Schultz on the left side evaded the block for a 22-8 lead. Alvey would tally another kill to give ICC match point at 24-8. SWIC would get a few more points, but the Cougars advanced to the District Championship on a service error to conclude the fourth set at a 25-10 score. 

District Championship vs. Heartland:
First Set; Heartland 18-25
The Cougars would get the title match's first point off an attack error from the Hawks. From there, it was about as back and forth as a set could be. Sure, teams would get a lead of a couple points, but it would just as quickly be erased by the opposition. Neither team held a three-point lead the whole set until a Heartland kill from the left side made it 16-13 Hawks. Even that lead was short-lived. A quality dig from Ashlyn Mool led to an attack error for Heartland to tie the set up at 16. Ashlyn Mool would get a left side kill to give ICC a 17-16 lead and force a Hawks timeout. Heartland would be the first team to 20 on a soft attack from the right side, making the score 20-17. Halle Peterson would roll a soft touch over for the Cougars' 18th point, but that concluded the set scoring. Heartland would wrap the opener on a 4-0 run to win the set, 25-18. 

Second Set; Heartland 22-25
Heartland would get off to a hot start, getting ahead as much as 4-0. Other than being down 0-1 at the very beginning of the set, ICC wouldn't get within one point until a block from Raquel Frakes made it 22-21 Hawks. An Ashlyn Mool kill gave ICC what would ultimately be their final point of the set. The visitors would put ICC on the brink of elimination with a 25-22 set win. 

Third Set; Heartland 19-25
Any momentum that ICC could have potentially grabbed may just have been stopped right from the onset. Heartland would send a powerful kill to the hardwood on the initial point for a 1-0 lead. That would turn into a 7-1 lead, forcing an early timeout from Coach Heffren. The Cougars would reach double digits when Gracie Schultz sent a block back for a 16-10 score. A Heartland attack error would get ICC within 19-16. Another attack error, and it was 23-18. The Cougars would eventually be tacked with an attack error of their own to give the Hawks match point at 24-18. What ultimately would become ICC's final point of the Fall 2021 season came on a left side kill from Ashlyn Mool for a 24-19 set score. The Hawks would head to Nationals for the first time in their young program's history on a right side kill, ending the set at 25-19. 

Bigger Picture:
ICC, as mentioned earlier, falls short of the NJCAA D2 National Tournament for just the first time since 2018, after winning District Championships in 2019 and the spring of 2021. 

Heartland's National Tournament appearance will be the first in program history, as their college just established volleyball in the summer of 2019. 

The Cougars have seven sophomores on the roster: Jasmine Nickerson (Erie), Halle Peterson (Peoria Notre Dame), Hope Allen (IVC), Brooke Ely (Washington), Lacy Pilgrim (Illini Bluffs), Ashlyn Mool (El Paso-Gridley), and Hannah Alvey (Illini Bluffs). 

ICC Head Volleyball Coach Tracy Heffren concludes her 3rd season. On the horizon as a potential milestone in the Fall 2022 season is her 100th career collegiate win, as Heffren concludes this season with a career record of (86-29).