Copyright Shaw Local Enewspapers
Don’t look now, but the Joliet Central volleyball team may be getting hot at the right time. The Steelmen, who won two of their four matches in the Bradley-Bourbonnais tournament over the weekend, made it wins in three of their last five Monday night with a 25-20, 25-19 win over Illinois Math and Science Academy on Senior Night. Joliet Central (8-21) was 5-2 to start the season. But, with the postseason starting next week, the Steelmen seem to be rounding back into shape. “I think we’re back to playing like we were at the start of the season,” said senior captain Delaney Moran, who led all players with nine kills. “The biggest difference lately has been our energy. We are really getting to the point where we trust each other on the court and we aren’t second-guessing.” Joliet Central coach Kevin O’Connell started all of his seniors - Andrea Mireles, Moran, Joyse Alvizo, Jasmin Gonzalez Guzman, Izabel Barrera, Cameron Salazar and Makinsey Whitmore - and they responded well. The Steelmen opened the match with a kill by Whitmore, but IMSA (12-19-1) had a hot start and took a 5-2 lead. Joliet Central, though, countered with a 9-3 run of its own to move out to an 11-8 lead after an ace by Salazar. The Titans countered with a 5-2 run, capped by an ace from Fiza Shaikh, but Central tied it at 13 on an IMSA serving error and an ace by Mireles. IMSA went up 14-13, but Central responded with a 10-3 run to lead 23-17, highlighted by three kills from Moran. The set ended with a kill by Alivea Gonzalez. “It was pretty cool to have all the seniors on the floor at the start of the match,” Moran said. “I don’t think that has happened this year, so it was really nice. “We are developing and becoming a team. We’re really excited for the postseason to start. We will keep training until then and go into the playoffs feeling good about ourselves.” Central wasted no time in the second set, jumping out to a 4-0 lead with a kill by Moran and an ace by Mireles in the stretch. IMSA pulled to within 9-6 on a free-ball kill by libero Kendall Atkins, but Joliet Central siezed control with a 7-0 spurt that started with a kill by Guzman and ended with an ace by Barrera, her second ace in the stretch. Moran and Whitmore each had a kill as well. IMSA pulled to within 22-19 late, but Central ended the match on a Titan hitting error, then back-to-back kills by Mickelaynuh Wollenzien. “We are starting to get some confidence going,” O’Connell said. “We did a good job tonight of not beating ourselves. Outside of a few serving errors, we didn’t make many unforced errors. “The first set, I started all of the seniors, and some of them don’t usually start. Cameron Salazar has been our backup setter, but she started tonight and did a great job. Joyse Alvizo is normally an opposite, but she started at middle tonight and played well. Andrea Mireles and Izabel Barrera did a great job with their serving and their play in the back row, and Jazmin and Makinzie both played well. “It was nice to see us playing tonight like we did at the start of the year. Our defense is back on point, and the offense is back to hitting well.”
