The Lincoln Way West Girls Volleyball team had what could only be described as an amazing season. The girls finished the year with an overall record of 25-13. They won the regional, advanced to the sectional and ultimately fell in tightly contested match against Lockport by a score of 2-1.
In a back-and-forth that saw neither team win consecutive sets, Lincoln-Way West sadly dropped the one that decided the match. The final score came out to 25-8, 20-25, 25-23.
Despite the loss, Lincoln-Way West still got an impressive performance from Claire Murphy, who had 12 digs and four aces. Those four aces gave Murphy a new career-high.
When asked about the slow start, Warriors Head Coach Kendall Villa stated the obvious for any fan that watches the games.
“That’s who we are, we start off slow," Villa said. "Usually we dig ourselves out and we come back. Sometimes we just have to say bye to the first set, and get into the second.
The match was the last for four players on the team who are all seniors. Coach Villa couldn't have been more proud of the fight that these girls put up either.
“ But the fight, the fight is what I love about these girls, they are not going to give up, they are gonna go and they are gonna fight and that's what they did,” she said.
Lockport is known to have some of the bigger girls in the state, which always provides challenges to teams when it comes to matching up, especially in the middle.
“Well, you know, kudos to my number two, Aaron Quigley, she's a softball player," Villa said. "We made her middle, you know, and she's going up against some of the biggest girls in the state and she played her heart out. In some games it doesn't always match up, but she plays really hard."
When it was all said and done, Murphy said it the best, as to the main reason the Warriors fell.
“I feel like it was just like a couple of miscommunications," Murphy said. "Everything else I think we did well. Communication is key in this sport, and something that going into next year we are going to have to do better at.”
While losing four seniors this year, the season for next year looks bright with stars such as Murphy returning.