(Above photo courtesy of: Jasper County Daily News) 

(NEWTON) — The Newton Lacy Eagles won the Little Illini Conference volleyball championship on Thursday night with a 2-0 victory over Paris to complete a 7-0 league season. The title (either won outright or shared) was the 11th in the past 12 years for Jill Kistner’s seventh-ranked club (Class 2A), now 32-3 on the season.

Newton opened the match with a convincing 25-10 win in the first set, then followed that with a 25-18 second-set clincher. Paris, which had already set a team record for most wins in a season, fell to 26-9 with the loss.

Layla Thomann and Claire Probst led the way at the net for Newton. Thomann had seven kills, and Probst six in the win. Allie Hermann added seven digs.

Kistner, the winningest coach in Newton’s proud volleyball history, won her 375th game in 14 years at the helm. And, proud is an understatement. The Lady Eagles have suffered only three losing seasons in the 52-year history of the program.

Also on Thursday, the final night of conference play, Casey-Westfield downed Olney, 2-0, while Lawrenceville defeated Marshall in a battle for second-place in the final standings, 2-1.

The IHSA state tournament series begins on Monday with Regional tournament play across the state. LIC teams are scattered among six different sites in classes 1A and 2A. Newton and Olney are both hosting Regionals.