Joliet West, Romeoville advance to Class 4A Joliet West regional title match

JOLIET – The depth and balance of Joliet West proved to be the difference Tuesday night in a 25-18, 25-21 win over Plainfield Central in the semifinals of the Class 4A Joliet West Regional.

The Tigers (27-9) spread out their attack throughout the match, and they were led by senior captain Lina Govoni, who had five kills, 10 assists and seven digs.

Joliet West will face Romeoville, which defeated Oswego East in the other semifinal, at 6 p.m. Thursday in the championship match.

“We like to spread the ball around like that,” Govoni said. “We have a lot of players who can put the ball down, so we want to get it to as many of them as possible. This was a good win. In the first game of the playoffs, it’s kind of nice to play a mid-tempo team because it keeps us on our toes and challenges us.

“It’s a lot easier playing on our home floor. We learned a lot from being on the team last year, and we want to finish what that team started. We are our own team, and our chemistry is very good. We have put in a whole season’s worth of work, and we aren’t done yet.”

Plainfield Central (8-27) didn’t make it easy on their Southwest Prairie Conference rival, keeping the score tight throughout both sets. The Tigers got an ace by Sydney Piazza to move out to a 9-4 lead early, but the Wildcats didn’t let the game get away from them. They stayed within four to six points most of the way from there before West ended the set with a kill and then an ace by freshman Lexie Grevengoed, who finished with a team-high eight kills).

“Everyone did a little bit of everything tonight,” West coach Chris Lincoln said. “When we play our roles and don’t try to do too much, we generally play pretty well. Plainfield Central did a decent job with their block and we had to adjust a little bit. We spread the ball out well.

“We came out a little flat as far as energy, but once we got going, we played better. We have to work a little bit on our hitters not being so predictable.”

The second set was tighter, and Plainfield Central broke a 6-6 tie with kills by Alexa Schubbe and Kylie Bakhaus to move ahead 8-6. Joliet West, though, responded with a 9-0 run, highlighted by a pair of aces by Julia Adams and a pair of kills by Govoni, to go ahead for good at 15-8. Plainfield Central got to within 20-18 before West put the match away, ending it with a kill each by Faith Jordan and Eden Eyassu. Adams finished with two aces and Eyassu had four kills. Schubbe led Plainfield Central with six kills.

“Our girls played real well,” Plainfield Central coach Bob Richardson IV said. “They never gave up, and I am very happy with their effort. We stuck with it and made them earn their points.

“There are some bright things coming for us. We lose a lot of seniors and we will miss them, but our JV had a strong season and the freshmen showed a lot of promise. It will be interesting to see what is coming down the road.”

In the night’s other semifinal match, Romeoville beat Oswego East 25-22, 25-18 despite missing head coach Paige Reinert because of a medical emergency.

Both teams started out on fire, as the first 11 points of the match came on either a kill or a block. Oswego East (12-19) led 6-5 before Romeoville went on a 7-1 spurt to take a 12-7 lead. The Wolves rallied to tie it at 12, 13, 14 and 15, but the Spartans (19-16) got an ace from Alexis Crowley and a block from Lianna Ortiz (11 kills, 8 digs) to take the lead for good at 17-15.

“The girls came out with a lot of energy and kept it up all match,” Romeoville coach Shelby Pemble said. “Our libero [Crowley] did a great job of calling out the shots for the front row, and she never let the ball hit the floor. We also had a sophomore, Emma de la Rosa, come in and play well in the back row, and Aubrea Baldwin was a real spark for us in the second set.

“Everyone did what they were supposed to do tonight, and we are excited to play for the title.”

Kameron Blizniak had 21 assists, two kills, three blocks and four digs for Romeoville, while Crowley had nine digs and three aces.

“We did a lot of situation work in practice with coach Pemble,” Blizniak said. “She has been very encouraging, and we have been feeding off of her.

“It’s nice to have a hitter like Lianna to lean on. We have a really good chemistry together.”

Oswego East was led by Ali Coy with seven kills, while Mia Stanley had six kills and Gia Sylvestre and Jessica Lavigne each had four.

“Our girls came out ready to play,” Oswego East coach Dina Beamon said. “I couldn’t be prouder of the way they played. All I require from them is that they play their best, and they did that tonight.”