By Randy Whalen

How much success has the Joliet West girls volleyball team had in the past four seasons?

Well, a record of 128-29 in those four years pretty much speaks for itself.

Toss in a pair of Southwest Prairie Conference titles, four straight regional championships, and two consecutive sectional titles to start the run, and the Tigers have had the best sustained stretch in school history. 

The seeds of that success start in the summer. 

Besides having their summer camps, the Tigers participated in a pair of summer leagues. While their success level wasn't the same as last year, experience was gained, and they will be prepared when the regular season comes around later this month.

“We were able to get many girls good reps and try some different things out," Joliet West coach Chris Lincoln said. "We saw a lot of potential for another strong season. I think all of us are eager to get into the gym and start working hard.”

The second of the summer leagues finished last week. That took place at Roma Sports Club in Frankfort. There, Joliet West finished second in the silver bracket. The league had a lot of top teams from east of Joliet, such as Lincoln-Way schools.  Providence, which placed third in the state in Class 3A last year, won it.

The week before, on Wednesday, July 22, the Tigers ended their summer league at Downers Grove South. While they beat rival Lockport Township in pool play during the league, a scheduling snafu meant they were in opposite playoff brackets. Last summer, Joliet West and the Porters tied for the summer league title there. Then, the two teams met for the third time in four years in the postseason in an intense sectional final at Joliet West.

This year, the Tigers won their first playoff match at Downers Grove South. But then lost 27-25, 19-25, 15-11 to a good Marian Catholic team. The Spartans have captured 10 straight regional titles and won the 2016 Class 3A State Championship. 

Joliet West hopes to extend its regional title streak to five in a row. There were seven seniors, many of them key players, who graduated from last season's squad, which went 35-4. But there were five juniors on last year's team. They were Julia Adams, Caitlin Garrett, Aubrey Prosek, Lily Swan, and Penny Wagner. 

Adams, who started as a setter as a freshman, will be looked to as a leader.

"I think after having three years under my belt, I just want to bring that experience that I've had and take the leadership," Adams said. "We have so many new girls and fresh faces, and that's great."

The mixing of the newer girls with the returners is a big part of the summer league.

"Even though we didn't have all the team all the time, it was really good for us to see what we could work on," Adams said. "Just being in two summer leagues and trying new things. Just seeing what we can work on, trying to figure out the makeup of the team and fine-tune the team."

Two sophomores were on last year's team. They were Nariah Autman and Lexie Grevengoed. Both are outside hitters. 

Grevengoed had quite a sophomore season, finishing with 344 kills. In recognition of that accomplishment and her all-around play, she was named a Second Team American Volleyball Coaches Association All-American! She was also named to the Second Team Illinois Volleyball Coaches Association All-State Team. 

Last season, the Tigers' four losses were all to top-tier teams. Those were Mother McAuley, Class 4A champion, Marist, Elite Eight team, Oak Park-River Forest, and Class 4A third-place team, Lockport.

This fall, Grevengoed hopes to turn that disappointment into more wins and a further advancement. 

"I'm back and taking that anger, that disappointment from last year to be better," she said. "I think we can take that and have it motivate us to win."

Through those down moments, the Tigers have to remain upbeat to accomplish it.

"We just have to have a positive mindset and start with a lot of energy," Grevengoed said. "We expect to win most of our games. To do that, we have to have a positive mindset and confidence in ourselves."

The season will start in three weeks. There should be plenty of fun moments for the Tigers as they hope to play into November.

"I want to help the team, help settle us in," Adams added. "It went by so fast. But I've had great teams every year and such great teammates."

The season will open with a 6 PM match on Monday, August 24 at Homewood-Flossmoor. Then on Thursday, August 27 id the home opener at 5 PM against Lincoln-Way Central. On Friday, August 28 and Saturday, August 29, the Tigers will be at the Metea Valley Invite where they could run into McAuley.