Fearless play leads Lincoln-Way West to regional championship win over Joliet Catholic

NEW LENOX - While Lincoln-Way West managed to get past Plainfield North on Tuesday in the Warriors’ home regional, even coach Kendall Villa acknowledged afterward there were a lot of things to clean up.

A tight win in set one and a loss in set two were followed by a decisive victory in the third set, but Villa challenged her players to be more fearless in their play Thursday night.

The Warriors took Villa’s words to heart.

Lincoln-Way West started hot and stayed that way throughout the evening to defeat Joliet Catholic 25-14, 25-19 to win the Class 4A Lincoln-Way West Regional Championship. The Warriors advance to the Bolingbrook Sectional against Lockport on Tuesday.

The Warriors (25-12) were cooking early in the first set and held off a rally attempt by the Angels to win in decisive fashion. The second set initially saw a tight battle before Lincoln-Way West eventually pulled away. This was in stark contrast to Tuesday, when Villa said the Warriors were a bit “timid” in their play.

Thursday night, there were no signs of anything quite so scary.

“They answered [the challenge],” Villa said. “We talked [Wednesday] about how we should be confident as the higher seed. Go in on your home court, feel confident in your play, don’t play timid, be smart, but go aggressively and hard. They executed that plan perfectly tonight.”

The Warriors’ start Thursday couldn’t have been much different from their start Tuesday. The first five points and eight of the first 10 went to Lincoln-Way West. A 7-2 run by JCA, however, cut the deficit to just one in the blink of an eye.

A timeout by Villa rallied the Warriors as Lily Goyer led them to a 6-1 run to go up 16-10. A JCA timeout stopped the bleeding for a moment, but the Warriors remained firmly in control the remainder of the set, scoring nine of the next 13 points to win 25-14.

Set 2 was more similar to Tuesday’s match in that it was a back-and-forth affair in the early going. Both teams traded points and the lead to a 5-5 draw before a kill by Elly Decker moved Lincoln-Way West ahead by two. JCA tied it right back up on a pair of Warrior errors and took an 8-7 lead on a kill by Ellie Blotnik.

After things got tied up 9-9, the Angels scored three straight to take their largest lead of the night. The Warriors attempted several rallies, but the Angels remained in front by three or more, going up 17-14.

Five consecutive points by Lincoln-Way West, capped by a kill from Caroline Smith, put them back in front 19-17. The Warriors never let up as they won the second set 25-19.

Lincoln-Way West was led by Decker (six kills), Goyer (five kills), Smith (five kills), Kara Stigter (five kills, four blocks), Claire Murphy (15 assists) and Laney Tuttle (10 digs).

JCA finished the year 20-16.

“We really had a great season,” JCA coach Kisha Cameron said. “This loss today doesn’t define how hard they worked and how much they challenged some phenomenal titans. ... This set the pace for the younger kids because we’re senior heavy with 11 seniors. The young kids know what to expect now.”

The Angels were led by Blotnik (five kills, three digs), Olivia Chovanec (four kills, five digs), Ella Godeaux (six digs) and Maggie Tibbott (eight assists).

Lincoln-Way West will try for a spot in the sectional finals when the Warriors play the Porters at 6 p.m. Tuesday in Bolingbrook. Tuttle said they’ll be ready for the moment.

“We just have to do our thing, play our game and have fun, honestly,” she said. “It’s just going to be about whoever comes out to play, and our whole team is pretty hyped about it.”