Girls volleyball: Timothy Christian makes itself at home
Senior Rachel Stoll and her Timothy Christian volleyball teammates were especially anxious as they waited 90 minutes past their scheduled starting time Tuesday.
The Metro Suburban Conference Red Division home match against Ridgewood marked the first varsity event to be played in Timothy's new Ward Athletic Center - already affectionately known by its WAC abbreviation.
"I love the atmosphere, being able to have our fans in here and willing to come out and Pack the WAC, as we like to say," Stoll said.
Once the Trojans finally started, they wasted little time in recording a 25-18, 25-21 victory in Elmhurst.
Junior Heidi Westra had 9 kills for Timothy (15-9, 6-1) and senior sister Tracy Westra had 11 assists and 9 service points. Stoll had 6 assists and 5 digs, junior libero Abygale Ahn had 9 digs, and she and senior Olivia Schuringa each had 2 aces.
"It's really cool. We've been practicing here for the past week or so getting used to it," Stoll said. "(Monday) we finally put up the big court. It's been an awesome experience to get to play in a brand new building a leave a legacy here."
The WAC's grand opening was Sept. 14 before being open to students Sept. 18. The first official event was Saturday with the freshman volleyball quad, which was moved from the older main gym because of the excessive heat. Timothy's freshman and junior varsity teams preceded the varsity Tuesday.
"(Our varsity players) were excited to be one of the first, even though they weren't the first to play on it," Timothy coach Scott Piersma said. "To kind of be the first big thing in here is special for them. The basketball event (Dec. 1) will be the first big event, but (we first were) going to get to play in here so the girls were really excited."
More exciting news was that standout setter Tracy Westra played a full rotation in a match for the first time since Sept. 12. She sprained her ankle the following day at practice and sat out completely until making brief back-row appearances during the Manteno Invitational Saturday.
Westra and Stoll, who has been setting in Westra's absence, shared setting duties in Tuesday's first game. Westra then played full rotation in the second game and contributed a 7-point serving streak for a 17-10 lead.
Ridgewood (13-8, 4-3) closed to 23-21 after its only ace but then committed a service error. Ahn served match point with a kill from Schuringa.
"I just wanted to see how (the ankle) felt in the first set, just to see how I was. I felt really good so I was able to play all the way around," Tracy Westra said. "To play in a big atmosphere (like this) has been really cool."
The Trojans have won six consecutive conference titles. Even without Westra on Sept. 18, they only lost 25-14, 16-25, 25-10 at current leader Chicago Christian (20-3, 6-0). Heidi Westra moved from middle to outside hitter after the first game and finished with a season-high 17 kills.
The teams meet again Oct. 16 at the WAC.
"We lost in three and they're a very good team," Piersma said. "To do that without Tracy and know that she'll be back when we see them again, that gives us a little hope or gets us fired up a little more."