Girls volleyball: Lincoln-Way West beats Lincoln-Way Central in key district showdown

NEW LENOX – There are always serious bragging rights on the line when two Lincoln-Way schools face off in anything. When the pair from New Lenox get together, things always tend to get interesting.

At various times Tuesday evening, the volleyball match between those respective Lincoln-Ways certainly was interesting. In the end of both sets, however, the result was the same: a Lincoln-Way West victory.

The Warriors had to fend off early challenges in each set against Lincoln-Way Central, and the Knights gave an inspired comeback attempt in the second set, but ultimately the Warriors came out on top. Lincoln-Way West won 25-17, 25-21.

Beyond bragging rights across New Lenox, it was a crucial conference meeting between the cross-town foes. The Warriors are now 2-0 in the SouthWest Suburban Conference, while the Knights are 0-1. For Lincoln-Way West (13-8, 2-0), it was a solid team effort.

“We just kept controlling our game and doing the things that we do well,” Warriors coach Kendall Villa said. “We didn’t get caught up with the loud noises and things like that. Sometimes we’re in quieter gyms and sometimes like tonight we’re in louder ones and we get distracted so we just had to hone in.

“I was really happy with the performance tonight. I thought they had really good communication on the court backing each other up. Everyone was in the right space at the right time. Even in their errors our defenders were all in the right spot. I was happy with the play and it’s always fun to play Central, which is always good competition.”

The Warriors were led by Caroline Smith, who finished with 10 kills, two blocks and six digs. Lily Goyer chipped in six kills and three blocks, Elly Decker added four kills and six digs, and Claire Murphy contributed 25 assists.

The match was competitive early on with no team separating itself. The first set was tied at 13-13 before the Warriors scored four straight points to pull ahead 17-13. The Knights began to respond point for point, but it was too late by then to complete a comeback.

After the Knights started the second set with a brief 3-1 advantage, the Warriors took over, going on a 7-1 run and eventually went up 13-8. The Knights did not give up, though, as they used a 9-4 run to tie the set up at 17-17. But the Warriors responded with three straight points before the teams began trading points again. That edge meant less work for Lincoln-Way West, which closed it out.

“We as a team always just support each other,” Decker said. “We keep backing each other up on the court and off the court. As a team we have each other’s backs which keeps the nerves down. We know we’re always there for each other.”

As for Lincoln-Way Central (7-9, 0-1), it was the third time in four matches that they were on the losing end of things. After losing five of their first six matches to start the year, they proceeded to win five of their next six and appeared to turn the tide. Now things have gone the opposite way once more, which has resulted in frustration.

“I was disappointed in the way that we played,” Knights coach Mary Brown said. “We let a lot of balls drop. I told them I’m OK with physical errors, but we seemed to make a lot of mental errors tonight. It’s up to them. They work hard and do it all right in practice but as soon as they get in the game they seem to get afraid and don’t play well. That’s pretty hard to combat.”

The Knights were led by Morgan Kozlowski (seven kills), Mya Donnelly (five kills) and Penny Smith (four kills).

Lincoln-Way Central will visit Lincoln-Way East on Thursday which is when Lincoln-Way West will host Bradley-Bourbonnais.