Tuesday marked the first varsity home game for the vast majority of the Bradley-Bourbonnais volleyball team, which has twice as many sophomores (six) as returning varsity players (three) this season.

After taking a hard-fought first set over visiting Beecher by a score of 25-21, the young Boilermakers seized control early on in the second set and pulled away to win it 25-12. They picked up their second straight 2-0 win to improve to 2-1 in the early stages of the season while sending Beecher to 0-3.

One of the Boilermakers’ new varsity players, junior outside hitter Liv Woolman, said that she thinks the team is able to make up for relative lack of experience with their high energy.

“I feel like we worked really hard this whole offseason just preparing,” she said. “I think we’re a really young team, and it shows, but it shows in a good way that we’re really eager to win and we’re going to put it all out there and do whatever it takes.”

Senior libero Lydia Hammond is also getting her first varsity volleyball action this season after not playing as a junior.

“I feel like we’re really underestimated as a team, just because we’re so young and this a huge new group.” she said. “We have only four seniors on this team, and that can look like a bad thing, but we’ve really come together and I was excited to show everybody what we have.”

Bradley-Bourbonnais opened the season last Tuesday with a 2-0 loss to Minooka. The Boilermakers followed that up with a 2-0 win against Joliet Catholic on Thursday, and after a Friday practice, were idle until playing Beecher.

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Bradley-Bourbonnais' Samantha Harsy, center, delivers a hit over the net as Beecher's Elena Kvasnicka, left, and Natalie Soch, right, defend in a match on Tuesday, September 2, 2025. (Nicholas Holstein for Shaw Local News Network)

With the program hosting a JV invite over the weekend, and then having Sunday and Monday off because of Labor Day, the team had to shake off a little rust early in their home opener.

Head coach Leigh Reiniche said she was happy with what she saw out of the team to close out the game.

“That was a good set,” she said. “The first set was a little rough... but then coming back, playing how we need to and running a consistent-enough offense in the second was worth it.”

The consistency down the stretch was promising for the Boilermakers, especially considering the team is still very much feeling things out at this point.

“We’re still trying to work on who’s playing where, and why,” Reiniche said. “We’re changing our lineup almost every single set to figure out what works best. But we’re finding some success, so that’s good.”

The Boilermakers will be on the road to face Morris Sept. 4 before getting set for some All-City action, first visiting Kankakee on Sept. 9 and then hosting Bishop McNamara on Sept. 10. They will be looking to win their 13th straight All-City title this season.

Beecher’s 0-3 start to this season has come against bigger programs, with the IHSA Class 2A Bobcats losing 2-0 to Class 4A Homewood-Flossmoor in the season opener and 2-1 to Class 3A Crete-Monee before falling to the Class 4A Boilermakers.

With reigning River Valley Conference Player of the Year, senior outside hitter Elena Kvasnicka, leading an eight-player senior class that also includes outside hitter Emily Avelar, Beecher will open conference play on Sept. 4 on the road against Gardner-South Wilmington. A win in that game would be the Bobcats 60th win in a row over RVC opponents.

Head coach Jaida Schroeder, in her first season as head coach following two seasons as an assistant at Beecher under former head coach Jon Herron, said she has liked what she has seen out of her team in these early-season matchups and is optimistic for the team to find further conference success.

“I’ve seen a lot of heart and hustle, a lot of big hits and strong passes, and a lot of competition as well,” she said. “We’re ready for conference play and we’re really excited for conference play.”