Girls volleyball: Montini drops opener at Lincoln-Way East

Considering it was opening night and that one school is a large Class 4A program and the other is competing in 2A this fall, last year's records meant absolutely nothing when Montini traveled to Lincoln-Way East on Monday night.

That's why no one seemed too surprised when the host Griffins, a sub-.500 squad in 2018, knocked off a Broncos squad coming off a 30-win season. Lincoln-Way East, with a roster loaded with returners from an 18-19 squad, including several 6-footers, claimed the season opener 25-16, 25-21.

Montini, a Class 2A contender this season, is breaking in some new players but showed flashes of strong play in Frankfort. Outside hitter Paige Pickering, who started as a freshman in 2018, led the Broncos with 9 kills and didn't seem too worried about her team's play while coming up short.

"We had pretty good defense at times, but that was a big 4A school and we're 2A so there's a little bit of a difference," Pickering said. "That's no excuse for not winning. But it's just our first game. We'll progress."

Broncos coach Steve Dowjotas agreed. While last year's team included several talented underclassmen, the program did graduate a pair of All-Area performers in libero Joslyn Boyer and outside hitter Caitlyn Meeks.

"Our entire schedule is like that," Dowjotas said about Monday's tough opening opponent. "Honestly, if we played them in maybe two weeks, three weeks we've got a chance to win that match. We have 3-4 new players filling roles for the people we lost … just getting used to them is a big thing. Once we get that jell factor against teams like this you're going to see a difference."

While the Broncos' schedule - which resumes with this week's Wheaton North invitational - will remain difficult, the team may not face many teams as big as the Griffins. Ali Sorenson, a 6-foot-3 middle hitter, had 4 timely blocks and added 3 kills. She teamed with fellow 6-foot middle Jenna Ralston to create problems for a Broncos attack that expects to develop more options on offense so that teams can't focus so much of its attention on stopping Pickering.

"I thought we in all phases of the game executed in what we wanted to do," Griffins coach Kris Fiore said. "We wanted to focus on No. 18 (Pickering) … she's a stud. She's going to get her kills. But you've got to try and make sure she doesn't go off for 20 (kills) on you."

Returning setter Tess Noonan, who had 17 assists and 7 digs, knows it's her job to move the ball around the floor and get more teammates involved in the offense.

"We're going to have to adjust, especially with running our middle more consistently so that we can open up the pins more … both our middles are young and (Lincoln-Way East) was cheating to the pins and they got the block … and they're big. It's a learning curve. We did lose a lot of girls from last year but going down a division (to Class 2A) is going to help a lot."

Julia Marciniak had 6 kills and Kylie Boyer added 7 digs.