By Randy Whalen

Sure, it was summer league.

But it was also successful. The Joliet West girls' volleyball team believes this upcoming season will be too.

"Summer league is great," Joliet West coach Chris Lincoln said. "That's because it lets us try some fun new things while being able to compete at the same time."

This summer was a busy one for league play. That's because the Tigers were in two of them. Those were a new one at Downers Grove South, and the other one was Velocity Xtreme Performance Volleyball Club in Frankfort. 

At Downers Grove South, Joliet West tied for first. At Velocity, the Tigers placed third. So even though it was summer, the seeds were planted for another successful season. 

Plus, the Tigers are also blessed with six returning players who are on the Michio Chicago VBA/Illprepvb 200 girls high school players to watch in 2025 list. They are Julia Adams, Eden Eyassu, Mady Gant, Lina Govoni, Lexie Grevengoed, and Faith Jordan.

"This was the first time that we were in two summer leagues," Gavoni said. "It's a lot, but it's good to start meshing with the team and seeing these faces."

Gavoni, a senior setter/right side hitter, is entering her third varsity season. She hopes to help Joliet West return to the heights it reached in 2022 and 2023, with winning sectional titles and making the Elite 8 during those years. She also hopes they get back to the top of the Southwest Prairie Conference, after placing second last year.

"This is good to see a lot of people and teams before the season starts," Gavoni added. "We expect to do well in the conference, and this all helps."

Adams is a junior setter who is entering her third varsity season. She helped the Tigers to a sectional title as a freshman and a regional championship last fall. Last year's team, which finished 28-10 and 10-1 in the SPC, only graduated one senior, Sydney Piazza.

"I think we're more of a mature group this season," Adams said. "We've got a lot of experience that was on the varsity last year."

Adams was happy to play in both summer leagues.

"I don't get tired of it," she said. "I love my teammates, and we want to keep building on those connections. I think we can do very well this year."

With the summer leagues held on different days, there were numerous matches. The Velocity playoffs were held on Thursday, July 24. There, the Tigers took third, losing to Lincoln-Way West in three sets in the semifinals before beating Providence for third.

For the third straight season, Lincoln-Way East won the championship there.

The Downers Grove South Summer League was new this season and was an opportunity for Joliet West to see some different teams. The playoffs were held on Wednesday, July 23, and the Tigers did well in the pool play there, so they received a bye in the first round.

Then they defeated Sandburg 19-25, 25-8, 15-11 in a quarterfinal match. Next came a very good Oak Park/River Forest team in a semifinal. That ended up being a 25-23, 13-25, 15-9 win as the Tigers raced out to a 5-0 lead in the abbreviated third set.

"The girls battled well," said Joliet West assistant coach Katie Adams, who is Julia Adams' mom. "OPRF is really a strong team, and I liked to see us battle and be able to finish. It was great."

But there was no third set in the next match. That was against an old rival, Lockport Township. The opening set went to the Porters, 25-23, while the second set was won 25-21 by Joliet West.

With both teams having a busy final schedule of summer camp the next day, the match was called, and it was a tie. They will have to wait until Wednesday, September 17, at Lockport to see who wins when it really counts. The Tigers defeated Lockport in a regional final in 2022 and also in a sectional title match in 2023. 

The Porters, who finished third in the state in Class 4A last season, squeezed out a 3-set victory in the regular season last fall.

Grevengoed is only a sophomore and will be back for her second varsity season as an outside hitter. Gant is a middle hitter, while Eyassu, a fellow senior who transferred from Romeoville last season, can play at outside hitter or libero.

"It feels good," Eyassu said following the Downers Grove South title match. "I know it's early and it's preseason, but we're still doing well. 

"We're really close and bonded this summer. This will help us throughout, and we put up a really good fight. I expect us to have a very good season."