Girls volleyball: Barrera, Bolingbrook sweep Lincoln-Way Central in two

BOLINGBROOK – Late in the first set Thursday night, Bolingbrook’s Sophia Barrera got hot. The Raiders’ senior got a pair of kills sandwiched around a Lincoln-Way Central hitting error and pushed her team from an 18-all tie to a 21-18 lead. The Raiders used that momentum to come away with a 25-19 win in the first set and then rode Barrera’s hot hand in the second set to a 25-22 win and the two-set SouthWest Suburban Conference victory.

“This was a big win for us,” Barrera said. “It was the whole team that gave a big effort. We were able to get points on some of the plays that were just chaos.

“[Bolingbrook setter] Sarah [Harvey] put the ball where I wanted it. We have played together for four years, so we have that trust. I trust that she will get me the ball where I want it, and she trusts that if she gets it to me that I will put it down.”

Barrera had a match-high 14 kills on the night, but she was far from the only weapon the Raiders (10-11, 3-0) deployed on the Knights (10-7, 1-2). Angie Pena delivered nine kills, while Noelle Aprati and Bianca Fefee each had four.

“Sophia and Angie had big matches tonight,” Bolingbrook coach Molly DeSerf said. “Everyone talks about what we lost from last year, but they forget that we actually return a pretty good core. They have some big shoes to fill, but they are starting to come together. We can come at teams from all sides of the net, so they can’t really load up on blocking one or two girls.

“The season is a marathon, not a sprint, and we are seeing improvement every match. We had some injuries, but giving excuses is saying that we aren’t that good, so we aren’t making excuses. It has made our gym more competitive, and with adversity comes opportunity and we have some players taking advantage of that.”

Bolingbrook led most of the way in the first set, taking a 9-5 edge on a kill by Barrera. Another Barrera kill put the Raiders ahead 12-9, and an ace by Alana Cruz put them up, 15-10.

Lincoln-Way Central, however, was not about to surrender, and rallied to tie it at 16, 17 and 18 before Barrera took over. The Knights got seven kills from Alyssa Teske and six from Kiera King on the night, as well as three from Brooke Smid.

Harvey served back-to-back aces to end the first set for Bolingbrook, which jumped out to a 3-1 lead in the second set, only to see Central answer with three straight points to take a 4-3 lead.

After the two teams traded points, Bolingbrook got the serve back on a kill by Pena, and then Pena served two straight aces for a 7-5 lead. Two kills by Fefee and one each by Aprati, Barrera and Pena put the Raiders ahead 12-6. Later, an ace by Harvey and a kill by Pena put the Raiders up 16-9, only to see Central rally to close it to 18-15 on the strength of four kills by King and one by Smid.

Lincoln-Way Central kept charging, and got kills from King and Teske to force a 19-19 tie. The Raiders got the serve back on a hitting error, and Barrera had back-to-back kills for a 22-19 lead. After a kill by Teske and an ace by Analeise Hopkinson got Central to within 22-21, Barrera had back-to-back kills for a 24-21 lead. After a Bolingbrook serving error, Barrera ended it with her 14th kill.

“We are still learning,” DeSerf said. “These girls are very tough mentally, and they don’t make it easy for anyone they play. They are a fun group to watch.”