Having already used a late burst to capture the opening set, Manteno looked to be in control of the second set as well against Seneca in Thursday’s Class 2A Seneca Regional championship match.

Down five, the subsectional No. 3-seeded Fighting Irish fought back to knot the set, but the No. 2-seeded Panthers bounced back quickly to grab back the momentum, and eventually finished off a 25-15, 25-21 victory to raise a regional championship plaque for the first time since the last of four straight run in 2017.

“I thought we played well tonight,” said Manteno junior Maddie Gesky, who ended the night with eight kills, a block, two aces, 12 service points and four digs. “This team is special; we all just love playing together and for each other. I feel like one of our best team qualities is

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