Girls volleyball: Joliet West’s underdog run ends against Mother McAuley

BLUE ISLAND — There was a bit of disparity in history when the Joliet West girl’s volleyball team squared off against Mother McAuley for the right to advance to the state semifinals.

McAuley was playing in its 34th supersectional. The Tigers were playing in their first.

But all postseason the Tigers have been fearless, defeating a trio of higher-seeded teams in winning their first sectional championship in school history.

Joliet West, however, just ran into a better team as the Mighty Macs once again advanced to the state semifinals with a 25-18, 25-19 victory on Friday in the Class 4A Eisenhower Supersectional.

The Mighty Macs (37-3), last year’s Class 4A state runner-up, will bring home their 25th trophy next weekend. They will face St. Charles East, a 25-22, 25-18 winner over Loyola in the Hinsdale Central Supersectional, Friday in the last semifinal match of the day at Redbird Arena in Normal.

Joliet West (29-11) concluded its best season ever. The Tigers only graduate five seniors but return most of its starters.

“When McAuley got here, I looked over and saw their coach and she’s a legend,” Joliet West coach Chris Lincoln said of Jen DeJarld, who currently has a record of 592-106 in her 18th season as head coach. “I never thought I’d have the opportunity to coach against her in my first year as head coach here.

“But that was because of our girls. I’m so proud of them. They bought in right away to me as a coach. To get this far was fantastic and the score didn’t reflect the match.”

The Tigers hung in, especially in the second set. McAuley jumped out to leads of 7-0 and 10-2. But junior outside hitter Ava Grevengoed (6 kills, 9 digs) had four of her kills in a 9-5 spurt that brought Joliet West back within 15-11. It was one of three times that the Tigers closed within four points.

“I just think we wanted it so bad,” Grevengoed said. “It brought us this far. We’re still all happy with how we did. We had a school record for (furthest advancement) and that was amazing for us.

“We just have to keep working hard and come back mentally and physically stronger next year.”

Joliet West could never get closer than four. That was thanks in part to a series of digs by senior libero Gigi Navarrete (16 digs), junior outside hitter Ellie White (12 kills, 10 digs, 2 aces, block), and a final one by sophomore outside hitter Sydney Buchanan (4 kills, 7 digs) that got the ball over and resulted in a double hit by the Tigers to make it 17-12.

One last time, Joliet West closed within four at 19-15. But senior right-side hitter Mary Kate Sheehan (5 kills) had back-to-back kills in a 4-0 run for a 23-15 advantage.

Still, the Tigers didn’t quit. Behind 24-19, they dug up a couple of kill attempts by White, an all-state player who now has 501 kills on the season. That forced the Mighty Macs to set junior middle blocker Ellery Rees (6 kills, block) to put down the match-winner.

“We watched film on her,” Lincoln said of White. “I think she got a bit frustrated at times but she’s a baller. Still our libero, (junior Olivia Baxter) did a great job with 15 digs.”

White knew she and her teammates had to work to get past the Tigers.

“They had a really strong defense,” White said. “I had to keep the options open and mix it up. I know I can trust my teammates.”

She can, but White is still the one who is looked to for key plays. In the first set, Joliet West had a brief 8-6 lead and there were four lead changes and eight ties through 11-11. Then White walloped a kill as the Mighty Macs went on a 4-0 run and led the rest of the way.

Ahead 21-17, White had an ace and kills by junior middle blocker Keira Ohse and Rees ended the opener.

Juniors Natalia Harris, at opposite side hitter, and Gabby Piazza (5 digs), at outside, each had six kills for Joliet West. Junior Taylor Brenczewski and senior Ashlyn Noon (10 digs) added six assists each from their setter position for the Tigers.

“I feel devastated,” Piazza admitted after the loss. “But in the end, all of my teammates turned to each other and said, ‘let’s have fun.’ Yes, it would have been awesome to beat them but we can’t be too upset.

“Something just clicked for us and we were like a machine in the playoffs. We had a lot of hard work throughout the season and it’s something to be proud of.”

The Tigers were the No. 6 seed in the Lockport Sectional. But they beat No. 6-seeded Lockport, No. 2-seeded Bolingbrook and No. 5-seeded Sandburg to win the sectional. This was Joliet West’s sixth sectional appearance (1978, 1988, 1989, 2015, 2016, 2022) and the second most wins in program history behind the 2015 team that was 30-7.

“We’re going to celebrate these girls and this team,” Lincoln said. “Win or not, we made it here and there’s more to come.”