Girls volleyball: West Chicago bids farewell to home court with win vs. Montini
The majority of the players on West Chicago's girls volleyball roster are seniors, and Thursday was the final time they played on their home court.
They made the most of it.
West Chicago hit its stride in the second set and won the match over the Broncos 21-25, 25-20, 25-19.
"We picked up the energy. It was a rough start, first-game jitters," senior Laura Katarzynski said. "It's kind of sad with it being our last match here. That's why we were playing out of our minds."
The first set was all Broncos (19-10). Montini servers came through with 6 aces, including three straight by Caitlyn Meeks that made it 14-7. Other aces came from Maddie Pickering and Tess Noonan.
The Wildcats (17-16) later cut the lead at 23-20, but the Broncos closed things out.
West Chicago took a 2-1 advantage in the second set and never let go. With Samantha Mitchell serving, kills by Katarzynski and Maggie Smith and two blocks by Angelina Gromos put the Wildcats up 13-8 and for the most part West Chicago kept the lead in that range for the rest of the set.
"I think we had a rough match yesterday (loss at Willowbrook) and I think they realized they were playing at the same pace at the start tonight," said West Chicago coach Pamela Prater. "But we have girls with the fire and the desire to win and they stepped up."
The Wildcats' Emily Murphy served to start the third set and her team pounced on that opportunity, building up a 7-0 advantage with the help of kills from Smith, Katarzynski, Devin Ward and a block by Gromos.
Later, a kill by Montini's Lexi Qualgia pulled the Broncos to within 12-10. Katarzynski slammed a kill that put the Wildcats' lead back to seven at 21-14 and the Wildcats kept their lead comfortable the rest of the way.
West Chicago is seeded ninth in the Class 4A Glenbard West sectional and opens postseason play at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday against eighth-seeded Lyons Township in a Downers Grove North regional semifinal.
"I think we played some of our best volleyball of the season tonight. We start the season out strong, then we hit a rough patch and now we are back to ourselves. We finally clicked," Prater said.
Team play, like shown Thursday, will again be crucial for West Chicago.
"Coach said we all need to have each other's backs," Mitchell said.
Montini, meanwhile, is seeded second in the Class 3A Timothy Christian sectional, and opens play at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday in a Chicago Northside regional semifinal.
Coach Steve Dowjotas is very optimistic about Montini as it enters the postseason.
"We're in a great spot. Our juniors have started as freshmen on the varsity and we have great seniors. Our maturity level and skill level are a year older and better," he said.