Nazareth Academy punched its ticket back to the state volleyball tournament Monday, Nov. 9, rallying past Lemont 25-22, 12-25, 25-16 in the Class 3A supersectional at Hinsdale South High School.

The Roadrunners (27-13), who finished second in the state last year, will face Geneva (30-10) in a Class 3A state semifinal at 4 p.m. Friday, Nov. 13, at CEFCU Arena in Normal, Shaw Local first reported.

Senior captain Lexi Van Eekeren drove the decisive third set. After the teams traded leads and tied 10 times in the set, Lemont's Maddie Maloney delivered a block to knot it at 15-15. Sadie Quinlan answered with a kill to get Nazareth the serve back. Then Van Eekeren took over.

She smashed a Lemont overpass, went high for a block from the right pin and threw down her fourth kill of the set to push Nazareth ahead 19-15, according to Shaw Local. She followed with an ace, set up an Ellie Warren kill and served another ace. Nazareth scored 10 of the match's last 11 points.

Van Eekeren finished with 10 kills, 10 assists and four blocks, according to the Riverside-Brookfield Landmark. Talia Surendran added nine kills. Sophomore Elizabeth Mackenzie contributed five blocks and Warren five kills.

Nazareth coach Esai Velez told Shaw Local that focused serving turned the third set. The Roadrunners had broken down in serve-and-pass during Lemont's dominant second set, and Velez said the message heading into the third was to locate the ball rather than chase aces.

Lemont (27-12) controlled the second set behind 6-foot senior middle Marta Pranskunas, who recorded nine of her kills in that frame, according to Shaw Local. The team jumped to a 6-1 lead and never let up, evening the match at one set apiece.

But Nazareth refused to let the rough set carry over. Van Eekeren pushed a two-handed kill down the line to tie the third set at 14-14, and the Roadrunners never trailed again.

The loss ended a milestone season for Lemont under first-year head coach Peggy Clemens, who guided the team to its first sectional title, Shaw Local reported.

Nazareth heads to Normal for the fifth time since 2019, chasing the program's second state championship. The third-place match is set for 4 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 14, with the championship at 5 p.m.