Last season’s loss to Grace Christian on Oct. 7 was the first time Kankakee’s girls volleyball team had fallen to the Crusaders.

When these teams met again on Monday, and after Grace Christian won the opening set 25-22, the Kays managed to bounce back on their home court to win the final two sets, picking up their third straight win overall and avoiding a second straight loss to the Crusaders.

Kankakee improved to 5-5 on the season with the win while Grace Christian fell to 5-8 with just its second loss in the last seven matches.

“I think we responded well,” Kankakee senior captain Elizabeth Avalos said. “... I think we’re definitely growing as a team. Our chemistry is coming together and I think we just never gave up. We hustled after every ball, and I think that’s what led us to the win.”

The first set was close early on before Kankakee starter to pull away, leading by as many as five points and eventually leading 21-17. But the Crusaders rallied to close out the set on an 8-1 run that featured a pair of kills from senior Gracie Reynolds and a kill and an ace from senior Miranda Glenn.

Things went smoother with the Kays in the second set. They only trailed once at 9-8 and later got three straight aces from Avalos to turn an 18-15 lead into a 21-15 lead. They eventually took the set 25-18.

Grace Christian got off to an early 6-2 lead in the third set, but Kankakee rattled off 11 of the next 14 points to go up 13-9. The Kays would not trail again, and after the Crusaders cut the score to 18-16 later in the set, Kankakee closed things out on a 7-1 run.

The Kays have several players stepping into heightened roles this season, as the team is without three of its top four kill leaders, five of its top six dig leaders and its assist leader from a season ago.

Behind a small senior class of Avalos, Karmer Rodgers, Sadie Mitchell and Angela Dethrow, the Kays have a large junior class led by the like of Ki’Asia Wilson, Malea Harrison and Shania Johnson that is competing now while also boding well for the future.

“I have a lot of juniors, so looking ahead to next year, we have a lot of promise,” second-year head coach Lauren Penrod said. “We have some really athletic girls, and we’ve just got to keep working together and focusing on keeping our energy there, and making the most of every play.”

The Kays have plenty of goals for the remainder of this season as well, with perhaps the main one being to reclaim the Southland Athletic Conference title from Crete-Monee.

These two teams have finished in the top two in the conference standings in each of the lat four seasons, with the Warriors winning the title last season and in 2021 and the Kays winning it in 2022 and 2023.

After Tuesday’s road conference matchup with Thornwood, Kankakee will host Crete-Monee on Thursday night. Wilson said she believes the Kays can find themselves back on top of the conference rivalry.

“We’ve just go to stay playing together,” she said. “We’ve just got to push, and as long as we push, we’ll get the win.”

Monday’s loss for Grace Christian came during a seven game stretch that features six matchups with River Valley Conference opponents.

The Crusaders have opened up conference play with a 3-2 record, and led by an experienced senior core of Glenn, All-Area special mention Reynolds and All-Area honorable mention Chloe Dandurand, are looking to bounce back from last season’s 4-6 conference record and get back above .500 in the RVC for the third time in four years.

“It’s just pushing each other to show their talent, making sure that they’re holding each other accountable and won’t let them rest,” assistant coach Courtney Johnson said. “They’re pushing for greatness, and I see that in all our seniors for sure.”