Grundy Reporter

In an April 1 Facebook post, Sen. Sue Rezin (R-Morris) congratulated the Saratoga 8th grade girls volleyball team after their second-place win at the state championships.

"Congratulation to the Saratoga 8th Grade Girls Volleyball team!!! #BumpSetSpike #Volleyball #38thSenateDistrict #Morris," Rezin posted.

Saratoga Athletics marked the victory on March 20 with a celebratory tweet. "One day later, but still so proud! What a Great Weekend to Be a Saratoga Hawk! IESA 8-3A Girls Volleyball State Runner Up! Congrats players and coaches! #WeAreToga #OnceAHawkAlwaysAHawk."

Coach Melanie Kunz spoke with WCSJ about the girls' wins: "It was a great season. I feel like the last couple of days I just keep saying to myself 'what a weekend.' It was like what a crazy weekend to have that huge success where they ended up second place in state, but I'm not surprised by it with this group. They were pretty impressive all season long, so to have that kind of finish really didn't surprise me that much with this group."

The Saratoga School District also cheered the young women on in a Facebook post: 

"Ladies and Gentlemen, your Saratoga 8th grade volleyball team is the IESA 8-3A State Runner-Ups!! The Hawks went to Pana this weekend on a mission and boy did they succeed. On Friday night, the team faced a strong opponent in Beecher Middle School. The team came out ready to play and their defense and serve receive led them to victory as they beat Beecher in two straight sets that both ended in a 25-20 scores. On Saturday, the Hawks were in the Final Four! They started the day with a match against a tall Quincy St. Peter. Even though it took three sets, the Hawks won and advanced to the championship game. After a tough battle, the Hawks fell in 3 sets to a strong Shelbyville team. Congratulations to our 8th grade team as they finished the season with a 21-2 record, conference, regional, sectional championships, and 2nd place in the state! We are all proud of you ladies and can’t wait to see what you do in the future. It was a great weekend to be a Hawk!"