Girls Volleyball: Oswego East clinches first conference title in program history

OSWEGO – Oswego East found someone special a year ago when it hired Dina Beamon to coach its girls volleyball team.

On Tuesday, the Wolves found themselves a match closer to perfection as they swept West Aurora, 25-15, 25-17, to remain undefeated in the Southwest Prairie Conference and also clinch the first conference title in program history.

“My little girl is only four months old and I’ve been bringing her to the gym just to soak up this love that we have here,” Beamon said. “I love these kids and it’s not just as players, but as people. I’m going to miss their presence. I see these kids during the day sometimes and also see them at practice so being with them the last two years has been amazing. I’m going to miss their spirit and what they bring to the table and how they lead this program, but this is the way to exit though, for sure.”

Playing its final home match of the season, Oswego East (25-5, 10-0) wasted little time taking care of the Blackhawks in the opening set, pulling ahead 17-6 after an ace from senior Vivian Campbell.

“If our other areas on the court aren’t for sure meshing, we always know our serving can bring us back or just get us those extra points to stay in the game,” Campbell said. “Throughout this season our serving has been strong. It’s been a good asset for us.”

West Aurora (9-20, 3-6) was playing without its top outside hitter Maureen Pokryfke.

“It always hurts to lose someone like her and she’s also a key component in serve-receive,” Blackhawks coach Brandon Vicory said. “We had a lot of stress on our passes and our libero had to cover literally all over the court, but I think what I love about West Aurora is we can compete. And that’s all we can ask for out of the girls and in the second set we saw them competing.”

The Blackhawks jumped ahead 3-0 in the second set, but the Wolves responded with a 7-3 run. West Aurora fought back to pull within 15-14 but wouldn’t get any closer as seniors Sam Trujillo, Megan Maier, Cailyn Smiley and Campbell took turns hammering home points for the Wolves.

“It’s a team effort and it’s all of them,” Beamon said. “We have so many girls that can put the ball away and our players play all the way around so this is a force. We have so many different weapons. We have not established the middle like we should but even in the middle we have weapons so it’s OK for us if we get in a bind because I can tell Viv (Campbell) to set this person and know they’re going to get the job done.”

The Wolves aren’t done yet, but their seniors are smart enough to recognize that the end is nearing so they’re appreciating their time together.

“Being a part of this program is just really special because it’s the first time we’ve even come close to winning conference and now we can go undefeated,” Wolves senior Isabella Torres said. “Even during freshman year we were good, but we’ve never clicked as well as we have now. Just growing as a team and building that chemistry after years of playing with each other, we now understand what need to do on and off the court to help bring each other up when they’re down.”

They haven’t been down often this fall.

“As a coach, all I can ask for is for them to keep moving forward and to help establish a program and a name for Oswego East,” Beamon said. “That’s why I’m doing this. I love these kids and know this program is up and coming. We’ve had 10 program sweeps this year. It has been crazy so all the levels here are up and coming.”

The Wolves will travel to Minooka on Thursday looking to win their 12th straight and to finish a perfect conference season before heading into the postseason.

“We’re keeping each other motivated at practice and looking to finish conference and get ready to go far in the playoffs,” Campbell said. “We know getting big leads is so important because anything can happen so it’s nice to have a few safety points.”

History’s been made already but the Wolves want to make even more.

“No other Oswego East volleyball team has done this before and we can keep going and going,” Torres said. “I know some people are saying this is our last time doing this, which is sad since we’ve been playing together for so long and a lot of us are best friends off the court too. We’re a team that genuinely likes being around each other.”