Girls volleyball: Joliet West outlasts Lincoln-Way West in Class 4A Oswego Sectional semifinal

OSWEGO – If a team isn’t playing their best, it’s nice to have a go-to player to give them a spark.

That was the case for Joliet West on Monday night in a Class 4A Oswego Sectional semifinal against Lincoln-Way West.

Both sets were tight throughout, as a young and determined Lincoln-Way West team went toe-to-toe with the sectional’s top seed. In the end, it was Ava Grevengoed and her 19 kills and five digs that helped lead the Tigers (35-3) to a 25-23, 26-24 win.

Joliet West now will play Lockport in the Oswego Sectional title game at 6 p.m. Wednesday.

“It felt like we didn’t have our usual energy early on,” Grevengoed said. “Maybe it was because we weren’t playing on our home court. We had to make our own energy.

“A win is a win, and we get to keep playing. That’s the most important thing.”

Grevengoed asserted herself early, getting four kills as Joliet West built a 6-4 early lead. Lincoln-Way West (29-9), though, didn’t back down and rebounded to take leads of 10-9, 11-10, 12-11, 13-12, and 14-13. The Warriors then led 18-16 before Joliet West went on a 3-0 spurt to move ahead 19-18. Caroline Smith had one of her team-high nine kills for Lincoln-Way West to tie it at 19, but Joliet West got consecutive kills from Grevengoed and Iyonna Pike to move ahead 21-19. The Warriors then tied it again on a kill by Smith and an ace by Lainey Tuttle, who had two aces to go with her team-high 18 digs.

The score was tied at 22 on a kill by Lily Goyer (7 kills), and Grevengoed got a kill to put Joliet West ahead 23-22. A double-hit violation made it 24-22 before Goyer closed it to 24-23 with a kill. Gabby Piazza (8 kills) ended the set with a kill.

“This was a little tighter than we had hoped,” Joliet West coach Chris Lincoln said. “But we expected it against Lincoln-Way West. They took us to three the first time we played them. They were very aggressive with their serves and got us out of system a lot.

“We had to grind it out tonight. We’ve been playing good volleyball lately, so for us to be able to not be at our best and come out with a win is big.”

Joliet West got out to a 6-3 lead early in the second set, but Lincoln-Way West had an answer. Freshman Kylie Armstrong entered for the injured Kara Stigler and promptly delivered back-to-back aces to help the Warriors take a 10-7 lead.

Lincoln-Way West held onto the lead until Joliet West tied it at 13 on back-to-back kills by Peyton Darguzis, but the Warriors went on a 5-1 spurt to grab an 18-14 lead. The Warriors led 22-20 after a kill by Goyer, but Piazza cut it to 22-21 with a kill. A Joliet West hitting error put Lincoln-Way West ahead 23-21 before Grevengoed got back-to-back kills to tie it at 23. A kill by Armstrong put Lincoln-Way West ahead 24-23, but Grevengoed tied it with a kill, the Tigers took a 25-24 lead on a net violation and won it on an ace by Darguzis, Joliet West’s only ace of the night.

“We knew we had to play together and go on some runs,” Grevengoed said. “We didn’t have a lot of three or four-point runs. It was a lot of point-for-point tonight, but we got enough runs to get us through.

“Our setters [Taylor Brenczewski and Julia Adams] did a great job of putting the ball in the sweet spot for me to swing at it. We’ve been in a ton of situations like this all year, and I was proud of us for finishing it in two.”

Lincoln-Way West coach Kendall Villa was pleased with her team’s play as well.

“The girls played a heck of a match,” Villa said. “We only had three unforced errors all match. That is huge progress from when the season started. I am so proud of these girls. They set a school record for wins and won the school’s first regional since 2013.

“We only had three seniors this year, so this is nothing but great experience for the girls that are coming back.”