The third time was truly the charm for the Providence girls volleyball team.

The Celtics played in their third straight Class 3A supersectional match Monday night, taking on Washington on the Panthers’ home floor in the Washington Supersectional. After losing in this match the last two seasons, Providence was able to break that streak and come away with a 25-21, 25-18 win to advance to Friday’s state semifinals at Illinois State University’s CEFCU Arena, where they will play Nazareth Academy at 4 p.m.

Providence (34-6), which is making its first state appearance since 1995, dominated from the start. Washington (23-15) held leads of 1-0 and 2-1 in the first set, but those were the only times the Panthers led. Providence got the serve back and tied the score at 2 on a kill by Abbey Knigh

See Full Page