By Randy Whalen

Chris Lincoln called it one of his favorite wins.

The Joliet West girls' volleyball coach has seen a few of those this season.

The Tigers tamed their local opponent, Lockport Township, with a resounding third set. That was by a score of 25-14, 23-25, 25-5 on Wednesday, September 16, in Joliet. 

That victory avenged a 21-25, 25-20, 25-21 loss to Lockport on the same court on November 6 of last year in the Class 4A Joliet West Sectional.

More importantly, it showed that the Tigers, who graduated seven seniors from last year's 35-4 squad, are a top team to beat.  Their record through September 26 was 22-3.

"This is one of my favorite wins," Lincoln said following the Lockport win. "This team plays for each other, and I'm incredibly proud of everyone."

Against the Porters, Joliet West had some incredible runs to take control. Trailing 9-6 in the opening set, the Tigers took control with a 13-1 blitz. That included back-to-back aces by junior outside hitter Cassidee Cartwright, who has really stepped up this season. 

Cartwright had four of Joliet West's eight aces in the match. She had an all-around great performance, adding five kills, three blocks, and 12 digs.

"I love the hybrid serve," Cartwright said. "A mixture of the top spin and floater. It gave them trouble, got them out of system, and it ended up giving me a lot of confidence.

"A big thing is that everyone is all hyped up. We all feed off each other and rally around each other."

Lockport (16-4 through September 28) pulled away from an 11-11 tie in the second set to take a 23-16 lead. But the Tigers came back with a 7-1 run to close within 24-23. But senior opposite side hitter Hutsyn Timosciek tallied one of her team-high 12 kills to give the Porters the second set.

But the third set was all Tigers. They jumped out to leads of 4-0, 8-1, 16-2, and 22-4 in cruising to a decisive victory over another top team.

"It felt really good," Joliet West junior outside hitter Lexie Grevengoed said. "I had a lot of confidence in (senior setter) Julia Adams, and she had a lot of confidence in me. 

"We took that sectional title loss from last year into this match and switched it. This gives us a great reality check of what we have to work on to continue it."

Grevengoed showed that she was the top player on the floor with a match-high 15 kills. But she didn't do it alone. Junior outside hitter Nariah Autman (6 kills, 3 blocks, 7 digs), junior middle hitter Giselle Harper (5 kills, 3 blocks), senior middle hitter Penny Wagner (6 blocks, 3 kills), senior libero Lily Swan (13 digs, 6 assists), and Adams (27 assists, 4 digs) were also huge. 

Adams was honored before the match. She has surpassed 2,000 career assists and is the all-time leader in Joliet West history in that category.

"To get 2,000 assists is a great accomplishment," Adams said. "But kudos to all my hitters and everyone. Without them, I never would have got it. 

"Our team just has so much trust. We all have the grit to come together to do what we can."

That showed the weekend before, as Joliet West captured first in the Denise Kavanaugh Invitational on Saturday, September 12, at Downers Grove South. The title match was an impressive 20-25, 25-19, 25-19 win over Oak Park-River Forest (12-6 through September 28), which was an Elite 8 team last year. 

Grevengoed was named MVP, while Adams and Sawn also made the All-Tournament team. Four of the Tigers' wins in the tourney were in three sets. 

"That tournament win really showed the girls what we can do," Lincoln said. "Lilly Swan was everywhere. We continue to roll with it, and everyone plays for each other."

That was the third of three straight weekends that the Tigers were in a tournament. Before that, they won the Peggy Scholten Invite at J.B. Conant on Saturday, September 5, with a 25-22, 25-15 win over Maine South (13-8 through September 21). Grevengoed was named MVP, while Adams and Cartwright also made the All-Tournament team. 

The season's first tournament was the Metea Valley, with the finale on Saturday, August 29. There, Mother McAuley captured its fifth straight tournament championship with a 25-14, 25-15 win over Joliet West in the title match.

Adams, Grevengoed, and Sawn also made the All-Tournament team.

It was the second straight season that the Tigers lost to McAuley in the tournament. Last season's score was 25-15, 25-23 in a semifinal match. In Lincoln's first season, in 2022, they advanced to a supersectional before falling to the eventual Class 4A champion Mighty Macs 25-18, 25-19.

That was the first of two straight sectional titles for Joliet West, which has four consecutive regional championships under Lincoln, who now has a record of 150-32 (through September 28) in his fifth season.

But does he feel that the Tigers have to get a victory over a program like McAuley, which was named the Top Volleyball Program in the State and has 17 State championships, including Class 4A ones in 2022 and 2023, to reach elite status?

"I’m incredibly proud of what we’ve been able to accomplish the last four years," Lincoln said. "Respectfully, I don’t like to set goals for beating certain teams. I like to focus on growth and representing the school and community. I’m not going to lie, I’m not exactly sure when we get the 'official' elite status, but for being a public school and accomplishing what we have, I’d say we’re close, if not there already."

The Tigers always want to play the best. That showed on Wednesday, September 9, when they hosted Marist, which has won the last two Class 4A State Titles and has four championships since 2017. Joliet West led late in the first set, but senior outside hitter Taylor Berg, who led the way with 15 kills, helped the RedHawks survive the challenge and win 25-22, 25-15.

Grevengoed led Joliet West with 8 kills and added 2 aces. Adams added 12 assists, 2 kills, and an ace. 

"I think our team has a lot of grit," Adams said. "We came back from  24-17 down in the second set (the night before in a 25-18, 29-27 loss at Lincoln-Way East) and have a lot of trust in each other. We will still work on everything, but it was a confidence booster seeing that we can compete with a top team in the state."

Lincoln agreed.

“I was really proud of how the girls played in the first set," he said. "Contacts were clean, and intention was behind each one. The fight these girls have is incredible, and we just have to make sure to work on making it last longer through matches."

Joliet West (22-3) hasn't lost since then, and the winning streak is now 12 straight. The Tigers hosted a triangular on Saturday, September 26, and defeated Batavia 25-16, 25-18 to open. Batavia (13-8) bounced back to topple Moline 25-21, 25-17 in the middle match. Then they toppled Moline 25-17, 25-19 in the finale. The Maroons fell to 8-6. 

They are currently 2-0 in the Southwest Prairie Conference and are aiming for their third SPC title in four years. The Tigers have won at least 28 matches in each of Lincoln's seasons as head coach, including 36 in 2023 and 35 last year. Despite graduating seven seniors from last season's squad, they are on track for another 30-plus-win campaign

In the postseason, Joliet West will be in the Class 4A Champaign Central Sectional this time. The Tigers will host their own regional as part of a sub-sectional. They wouldn't see Lincoln-Way East or Lockport until the supersectional, which will be held at Rich Township. 

"I wasn't expecting us to gel so well," Lincoln said after hosting the triangular on September 26. "We have so much cohesiveness, and that's what's been separating us from everyone."