Girls volleyball: Romeoville rallies to top Lincoln-Way Central in season opener

NEW LENOX – Most volleyball teams don’t get too excited about the result of the first match of the season. But Romeoville’s 17-25, 25-18, 25-20 win over Lincoln-Way Central on Monday night just might be one the Spartans can hang their hats on for the rest of the season.

Romeoville historically has been on the outside looking in at the elite programs in the area. On Monday, the Spartans looked like they are ready to break the door down.

Despite typical first-game jitters in the first set, the Spartans regrouped and got the best of the Knights on their home floor in the next two sets.

Much of the attention on Romeoville goes to University of California-Davis commit Demi Cole. While Cole was indeed a factor in the middle with her length and athleticism, it was a team effort that carried the Spartans to the victory.

Setter Kameron Blizniak spread the offense around, and her Spartans teammates took advantage. Sophomore Lianna Ortiz had a team-high nine kills, while Eden Eyassu had five kills and Cole and Taylor Cicero each had three. Grace Griffin added two late kills, including one for match point on a perfect back set by Blizniak, who finished with 21 assists.

“This feels awesome,” Blizniak said after the win. “Coach [Paige] Reinert pumped us up in the huddle after the first set. We even talked about it on the bus on the way here. We had to come out and show up and play. In the last two sets, we showed up.

“A win like this is a big confidence boost for us. We hope we can surprise some people this year or even become the ones with the targets on our backs for a change.”

The fact that her team kept fighting and battling did not surprise Reinert.

“This team actually asked me if they could practice yesterday [Sunday],” she said. “They have bought in 100%, and they work hard. I am so proud of them.

“We lost pretty bad to Lincoln-Way Central last year, so for us to come to their place and beat them will really be a confidence boost for us. We showed ourselves that not only can we compete, we can win matches.”

It didn’t look good for Romeoville early on as Lincoln-Way Central used a 5-0 spurt to take a 7-5 lead and never looked back. The Knights – who got 11 kills and five digs from Morgan Kozlowski, eight kills, 12 assists and nine digs from Kiera King and four kills, 18 assists and seven digs from Alyssa Teske – pushed the lead to as much as 21-12 and cruised to the first-set win.

The Spartans countered in the second and third sets by cutting back on the unforced errors and playing solid fundamental volleyball. That, along with the attacking ability of Ortiz and Eyassu and the blocking of Cole, Cicero and Griffin, allowed Romeoville to come away with wins in the final two sets.

“I thought our middles played really well,” Reinert said. “And Lianna and Eden really had nice games. Also, our libero [Alexis Crowley] played her butt off tonight. Some of those digs she made right on the line are difficult, but she did a good job. I am proud of all our girls.”

Lincoln-Way Central trailed 23-17 after back-to-back aces by Eyassu in the third set, but the Knights scrapped their way to close it to 24-20 before Blizniak and Griffin executed a perfect slide play and Griffin slammed down the kill.

“That play to Grace was awesome,” Blizniak said. “She’s new to our team, so it’s been fun getting her involved.”