By MATT GOLDBERG
Herald-Whig Sports Writer

NORMAL, Ill. -- Odds are Barb Crist won't be able to get her hands on film of Super-sectional opponent Lisle Benet Academy.

If the Blue Devils play like they did in Thursday's Class 4A Normal West sectional championship win over O'Fallon -- especially in the opening game -- they might not need it.

QHS came out playing what Crist called an almost flawless first game en route to a 25-14, 25-19 win over O'Fallon -- giving the Blue Devils their fifth sectional plaque and the first since 2006.

The Blue Devils (36-3) play Benet Academy (35-4) at 5 p.m. in Saturday's Class 4A Super-sectional at Normal Community. The Redwings were last year's Class 4A runners-up.

Thursday's victory erased the memory of last year's heartbreaking three-game sectional championship loss to Edwardsville.

"I've definitely been in that position and (didn't) want to be there again," QHS senior Hannah Kvitle said.

The Blue Devils proved a point Crist has been preaching all season in the victory.

"It's about what we do and what we make happen for our team," Crist said.

That was evident as QHS jumped out to a 16-5 first-game lead.

It was also the case when O'Fallon rebounded from a 15-8 second-game deficit with a 7-2 spurt to cause QHS to take its only timeout of the match with the score 17-15.

"It wasn't anything that they were doing, it's what we were doing," Crist said. "That's what a good team's all about -- supporting one another and that's one thing that these girls definitely did tonight."

Brittany Houghton, who had three of her nine kills after the timeout, recorded a kill following the time out.

"We were just kind of slumping a little on defense," Houghton said. "We had to get our passes up and then we could put the ball away."

After Houghton did that, O'Fallon answered, cutting Quincy's lead to two.

But that's as close as the Panthers, playing in their first sectional title match in school history, came as the Blue Devils led by at least three points the rest of the way.

"We didn't want to go three," Crist said. "...We're about going out and winning in two. And hopefully we'll be able to continue that tradition and make something happen on Saturday."

In addition to Houghton, Taylor Holtmeyer also had nine kills for the Blue Devils (36-3).

O'Fallon (28-9-1) never led in the match and only tied the match once -- when one of Emma Goldschmidt's match-high 11 kills tied the first game at one.

Goldschmidt, like Kvitle, is also a Saint Louis University volleyball recruit.

Execution will be everything if the Blue Devils hope to make their second state tournament appearance -- and their first since 1999 -- by beating Benet.

"You can know everything in the world about a team, but if you don't execute, it doesn't get you anywhere," Kvitle said.

-- mgoldberg@whig.com/221-3367