Girls volleyball: Joliet Catholic overcomes slow start, topples Taylorville in Class 3A third-place match

NORMAL – Joliet Catholic sophomores Ellie Blotnik and Olivia Chovanec found a good spot for an in-match chat on Saturday afternoon.

Joliet Catholic second-year coach LaKisha Cameron pulled Blotnik and Chovanec to the end of the bench following a frustrating loss in the first set to Taylorville in the Class 3A state third-place match.

For the majority of the break between sets, Blotnik and Chovanec listened to their coach, while providing their own insight into stopping the Tornadoes’ momentum as the rest of the Angels huddled together awaiting the start of the second set.

With senior outside hitter Ava Neuschwander set to take her talents to Carthage College, Blotnik and Chovanec are expected to take an even bigger leadership role over the next two seasons.

Cameron said she wanted to send a strong message to her two sophomores.

“I pulled their stats and told them we need you big, and you don’t need to kill everything and keep it in play and make the other side earn points,” Cameron said. “I told them I knew they got this, and they did.”

Blotnik and Chovanec must have heard the message.

The Angels were a different team in the second set, rebounding to record to a 20-25, 25-21, 25-17 victory over Taylorville at CEFCU (formerly Redbird) Arena.

Led by 12 kills from Neuschwander and nine kills each from Blotnik and Chovanec, the Angels (24-18) earned the program’s fourth third-place trophy.

In 2021, the Angels lost to eventual state champion Nazareth Academy and suffered a two-set defeat to Normal West in the third-place game.

On Friday, the Tornadoes (30-11-1) came out lacking energy and played timid against Nazareth in the semifinals, but that wasn’t the case Saturday.

Meanwhile, the Angels, who dropped a two-set match to St. Francis in Friday’s semifinal, struggled to bounce back against the Tornadoes.

The Angels trailed 5-2, 14-9 and 17-12 and 19-13 in the first set only to mount a mini-comeback every time. Late in the second set, the Angels rode the stellar play by Neuschwander to force a third set. Senior Lauren Cardwell ignited the set-turning run with a full-length dive for a dig to extend a rally that lowered the deficit to 16-15.

The Angels broke open the match following a kill by Neuschwander to seize a 10-9 lead in the third set. Joliet Catholic relied on strong serving to pull away in the final set.

Blotnik, who added seven digs, said the Angels felt the pressure to avoid a repeat of last season’s third-place finish.

“We knew we didn’t want to finish like last year, and build upon it,” Blotnik said. “Being so young, the experience is (great). It’s an incredible experience to lead up to the next two years.”

Chovanec finished with 10 digs, and junior Jessica Horn racked up 33 assists and seven digs. Chovanec said the Angels plan on building off Saturday’s win.

“It definitely gives us momentum and confidence going into next two years, and I think it’s so great coming from [Friday] with a lot of energy and it was huge to get this win,” Chovanec said.