Lincoln-Way East picks up 9th straight win with sweep of rival Lincoln-Way West

NEW LENOX – When Lincoln-Way East volleyball coach Sean Burns was asked Thursday night how he felt about his team’s performance this season, he couldn’t help but smile.

“We’re feeling good,” he said. “We feel like we can play with anyone in the state of Illinois.”

At 19-3 overall, 5-0 in the Southwest Suburban Conference, and nine wins in a row? Yeah, that’s not hard to believe.

The Griffins looked like full-fledged contenders Thursday night against the Lincoln-Way West Warriors, having no trouble picking up a victory in the first set before staging an impressive comeback in the second to secure a 25-17, 25-23 victory.

The Warriors are now 18-10 overall and 4-2 in the SSC.

The first set was no trouble at all for the Griffins, who were in control virtually the entire time. The second set, on the other hand, saw the Warriors go up by six early before Lincoln-Way East had to claw its way back. While the first set showed the Griffins’ dominance, the second showed their resiliency.

While both are great to have, Burns will take the first any day of the week.

“I’d rather both go like set one, but it was good to see us bounce back in set two,” Burns said with a smile. “West did a great job of slowing the game down, which took us out of sync on offense. They did a great job serving too, which put us out of system a lot. The first game we passed really well, and not so much the second game.

“I’d rather have set one, but I’m proud of how we bounced back.”

After the match started with a pair of scores by both teams, Lincoln-Way East went on a 6-0 run led by Alaina Pollard. A kill by Lily Goyer kickstarted a 7-2 run by Lincoln-Way West to cut the deficit to 10-9, but a wallop of a block by Maddie Hellrung started a 4-0 run by the Griffins to put them firmly back in control. The lead grew from there before closing things out 25-17.

There’s a reason Burns preferred the first set to the second.

Caroline Smith and Ellie Decker came out on fire for the Warriors, leading to a 4-1 advantage that got to 8-2 in a hurry before Burns called timeout. The Griffins settled back in from there, using a 6-1 run to pull back within a single point.

The teams traded points from there before Lincoln-Way East managed to tie it at 12-all and then take the lead on a kill by Tamia Maddox. Two straight points by Lincoln-Way West led to the teams exchanging points again until the score reached 17-17. A kill by Pollard was followed by an error by the Warriors to give the Griffins a two-point advantage, their biggest of the second set.

While the Warriors quickly responded to tie things up again at 19-all, the Griffins went up by two and remained in that position the rest of the way to the tune of a 25-23 victory.

“We definitely don’t try to make things like (the second set),” setter Brooklyn Ritter said. “Good teams find a way to win. ... We connected with all our hitters, which helped in the first set. In the second set, West brought the intensity, and then we just needed to match that. That’s what we did.”

Ritter finished with 12 assists and eight digs, Maddox had seven kills and seven digs, and Pollard finished with nine kills. Lincoln-Way West was led by Goyer (five kills), Smith (two blocks), Decker (two blocks) and Claire Murphy (12 assists).

“I love that we keep fighting,” Warriors coach Kendall Villa said. “Even when they’re down, they typically come back and keep fighting. I think something we can learn is that if you want to be at the top of the state, then you have to go hard. You can’t be fearful, and you can’t play safe.”