Girls volleyball: Joliet Central cruises to sweep of Rich Township

JOLIET – During practice at the end of last week and the start of this one, Joliet Central worked on a few things.

That work was evident Tuesday, as the Steelmen picked up a sweep of nonconference rival Rich Township 25-11, 25-22.

After dropping a Southwest Prairie Conference match to Plainfield South last week, the Steelmen looked like a different team Tuesday, especially on defense. Joliet Central’s defenders were consistently in the right places and made several hustling plays to save points from hitting the floor. Their serving also was excellent, as shown by the team racking up 13 aces, including five from Camryn Brown.

“We worked a lot at practice on staying in position and moving our feet,” said Central captain Sadie Johnson, who had a team-leading five kills to go with three aces. “We also missed a lot of serves in our last couple of matches, so we have been working on that a lot, too.

“We played great defense and had great serving today. It’s nice to see that work we put in during practice pay off. I think we can have a pretty good season if we keep putting in the work at practice like we did the last few days.”

Central (3-4) got out of the gates quickly.

With Johnson serving, Delany Moran started the match with a kill. After a Rich Township hitting error and net violation, Johnson served two straight aces for a 5-0 lead. The Steelmen were leading 8-4 when Brown stepped up to serve. By the time she was done, they led 14-4, and Brown had four aces in the stretch. The Steelmen also got a kill from Reyna Franchini.

After a Central hitting error, Maritza Duarte got the serve back with a kill, then stepped to the line and delivered five straight points, including an ace. Johnson had three kills in the run, and Central coasted to the first-set win.

“The biggest thing we did on defense was move our feet better,” Central coach Kevin O’Connell said. “Our setters were playing defense, and our blockers were much more aggressive. Our serve was terrific. I think we only missed two serves all night. We played good volleyball tonight.

“We made a change at libero and put Camryn Brown there. She was an outside hitter for us last week, but we know she’s a good defender, so we moved her to libero, and she did great. Aaliyah Castillo did a great job in the middle. She’s usually an outside and doesn’t play in the middle, but we didn’t have either of our regular middles. We put Aaliyah in there, and she did a nice job.”

The Steelmen threatened to run away with the second set, as well, leading by as much as 17-8 before Rich Township rallied. The Raptors cut a 20-11 deficit to 24-22, but Moran got a kill, her third of the match, to end the set and the match.

“Everyone had their roles on the floor, and everyone played their part,” O’Connell said. “No one was trying to do too much. They knew what their job was, and that’s what they did.

“Delany Moran played great all the way around the floor. When she was in the back row, she made a couple of digs and saves that saved points, and that really fired everyone up.”