Girls volleyball: Willowbrook earns 20th win of season

There was a big crowd and balloons and signs for senior night, but Willowbrook senior libero Payton Ceh always plays hard, and her effort Thursday night could not be measurably any better than what she does most nights.

But that said, the Warriors leader may indeed have had a little extra fire in making sure her squad pulled out the 25-16, 20-25, 25-18 nonconference victory over visiting West Chicago. Ceh, who missed half of her junior season with an ACL tear, had 21 digs against the Wildcats to make sure the hosts reached the 20-win mark for the first time in recent memory.

"No, we definitely did not (want to lose senior night)," she said. "There was good energy everywhere. Last year was a little rough, but this year the team has better connection and better energy. We all just mesh better this year."

In the first set the Warriors (20-15) used a 17-3 run to build a sizable lead before closing the win with an ace by Kyla Ostrowski followed by Katie Linnig's winning tip shot. But the Wildcats (18-11) pushed the match to a decisive set after rallying from 10-4 and 18-13 deficits to pull out the second set 25-20. That middle set was tied at 20 before a pair of Lilly Smith kills and an ace from Marie Lowell evened the match at one set apiece.

Willowbrook started strong again in the third set and this time made sure to finish things off.

"I think people got a little cocky and we needed to be confident but not cocky," Ceh said of the second-set setback. "For sure we needed to (start strong in the third set)."

Ceh's defense was a key to the win, but she had plenty of help. Linnig had 13 digs to go along with 10 assists and Grace Reckamp turned in a solid all-around effort Thursday adding 13 digs and 10 assists to her match-high 13 kills.

"We really wanted to win it for the four seniors so we had to pull it out," said Reckamp, a junior setter/right side. "It's been a while since we won 20, but this team has been strong this year. We really fought hard tonight. Not everyone has been on at the same times this season, but tonight I feel like we were all on at the same time and that helped us pull out the win."

Warriors coach Irene Mason liked the large crowd and her entire team's effort on the court and on the bench but noted that she could tell her libero was really excited about the match. With an 18-12 lead in the third set, Ceh perfectly placed a winner in the right corner and jumped up and down in celebration. The Wildcats never got closer than 4 points as the Warriors prevailed.

"I told them at the end they all did great things, but I could really see it in Peyton's eyes. There was not a chance (we'd lose)," Mason said. "She's our libero, but we also look for her to score a lot either through her serves or her kills. She does everything for us. She's a four-year varsity starter so I know this meant a lot to her and the other girls. This was fun."

For West Chicago, Smith finished with 12 kills and 9 digs, while Lowell paced the defense with 21 digs.

"Our passing struggled the first game. We turned it around a little bit and that's when we fought back. If we have the passes we can get the kills.

We just didn't get enough passes," Wildcats coach Pam Pater said. "Willowbrook just wanted it more. We didn't play like we wanted it and that's frustrating."