NORMAL - The emotions of the Mount Pulaski High School volleyball team ranged from utter exhilaration to "what just happened?" after it captured the Class 1A state tournament championship Saturday morning. | Photo gallery

"I couldn't stop shaking for a while," said senior middle hitter Christina Stoll after the 25-22, 25-22 triumph over Rockford Keith School at Redbird Arena.

"It's probably going to feel good tomorrow," said legendary Lady Topper coach Donna Dulle trying to soak in the thrill of landing her second state title and ninth state trophy in 27 years.

Mount Pulaski won the first title of the new four-class era with a 27-14 record, a mark with four more losses than any previous state champion.

Dulle's 1989 state title team had a superstar in 6-foot-3 Tina Rogers just as Rockford Keith has one in 6-1 Nebraska-recruit Jordan Haverly, who finished with 19 kills on .531 hitting.

"We were going to triple (block) her, and she still kind of got through it," Dulle said.

"We were able to dig up a few balls that she hit. She was more potent in the back row, I thought. We were able to counter enough to stay in the game. She's a good player."

Lady Topper fans felt better when Haverly rotated to the back row where she still managed three kills.

Mount Pulaski countered with a committee of hitters led by 5-7 sophomore Morgan Litterly, who had nine kills on .389 hitting. Stoll added seven kills and Kassi Schmidt six.

"She was very consistent yesterday (with a season-high 12 kills) and today," Dulle said of Litterly.

Mount Pulaski took control of the first game with a 7-0 run to go up 12-7. Keith School closed within 19-18, but a 5-0 surge by the Lady Toppers provided breathing room until an Ellen Olson kill ended it.

"I thought we hit the ball harder yesterday (in a semifinal win over Deer Creek-Mackinaw)," said Dulle, whose team was outblocked, 4-1. "(Keith School) blocked us better than I thought they would."

The second game was a tossup until the Lady Toppers made a 5-1 move to go up 23-18. Keith School sliced it to 23-22 before one of its five serving errors in game two was followed by a Litterly kill.

"Our serve receive went very well," Dulle said. "The ball moves a lot in the arena, and we were able to control it."

Mount Pulaski senior libero Elizabeth Fanning had a match-high 10 digs while Lindsey Durchholz and Jeri Kaye Turner had seven apiece.

"It's kind of difficult (to receive serve) just because the room is so big," Fanning said. "You have to rely on your teammates to help."

Dulle said this squad is more balanced than her 1989 squad, which went 43-0. Keith School, which began competing in IHSA events in 2003, ended its best season at 37-5.

"It's an amazing experience," said Keith School coach Tammi Haverly, Jordan's mother. "It's just too bad everybody can't go through this because these kids are going to remember this for their whole lives."

They will also remember a few boo-boos.

"We made some mistakes we generally don't make," Tammi Haverly said. "We had a lot of service errors today which didn't help us out. Our passing wasn't quite as clean as it was yesterday.

"Those little things, two points here or three points there, make a big difference. If we could have cleaned up a couple of those, we would have been in game three."

Mount Pulaski's tradition was evident during its seventh state title match.

"They had experience on their side," Haverly said. "That's all right. We've got one (trophy). We'll be ready to go next time."

This time they were outhit, .156 to .127, as none of the Cougars had more than two kills except Jordan Haverly.

"We just didn't play as well as we could have," she said. "They were real consistent in everything they did. They didn't break down. They didn't give up."

A public reception is planned for the Lady Toppers at 6:30 p.m. today in the school cafeteria.