As they’ve once again rolled through the regular season without much resistance, the Cissna Park girls volleyball team had only had two games go to three sets all season long – 2-1 wins over Bishop McNamara and Beecher. So, when the Timberwolves hosted the Fightin’ Irish in nonconference play Wednesday, they knew they’d be tested.

And if girls volleyball had an honor roll, the Timberwolves would be on it for passing yet again.

After hard-fought 25-21 and 22-25 sets, the host Timberwolves opened the third on fire, rattling off the first nine points and holding off a late rally for a 25-16 win in the decisive third set.

“I think after the second set, we knew we had a couple of things to clean up,” Timberwolves senior middle hitter Sophie Duis said. “We went to the huddle, we knew what those things were, and when we got back out on the court, we were focused on them and were going to play better than we did in the second set.

“We wanted to have lots of energy and lots of momentum in every single point, so I think we just put a lot of attention towards every single play.”

The two-time defending Class 1A state finalists won their 10th game in a row since a 2-0 loss to 4A Bolingbrook last month, improving to 25-1 for their fifth straight season with at least 25 wins.

Duis is part of a four-year starting senior trio alongside outside hitters Addison Lucht and Josie Neukomm, the former the reigning two-time Daily Journal Player of the Year. They all played key roles again Wednesday, as Duis had a team-high two blocks and matched Neukomm with a team-best 11 kills, one more than Lucht.

“They got thrown into the fire right away as freshmen, and they weren’t looked to as the leaders then, but they were the doers,” Cissna Park coach Josh Landon said. “They just went out and did whatever they could to make the team successful. This is what this group has collectively been able to do since sixth grade.”

But the Timberwolves are much more than their trio of four-year letterwinners. Their duo of sophomore setters shined, as Mady Marcott had 17 assists, and Ella Schluter added 13 assists and four aces. Sophomore Kendyl Neukomm racked up a team-best seven digs.

As she’s gone from a young phenom to a seasoned veteran leader, Lucht has enjoyed watching her younger teammates develop to help the Timberwolves show they’re one of the state’s most dominant small-school programs.

“I think it’s the leadership each year,” Lucht said. “I think I’ve had great leaders when it came each class’ turn to lead, and I think that each team, yeah, they have their own cliques, but I think this group’s really special.”

Meanwhile, the Fightin’ Irish slid to 8-10 after giving the Timberwolves their biggest scare in 10 matches. While the final result is no different than a brief 2-0 sweep would have been, McNamara coach Ryan Thomas and his team have positive takeaways ahead of the last week of regular-season play.

“No loss feels good, but if there’s one thing we can take away from this loss, it’s that we can play with strong teams,” Thomas said. “The first set was close, the second set we won by two, and then they just got on us in the third set.”

The Irish close out the regular season at Manteno on Monday, the same Panthers team they’ll see in the Class 2A Seneca Regional on Oct. 28.

Cissna Park has a much busier final week and change of the regular season. It’ll be part of a loaded St. Thomas More MLB Tournament on Saturday that features fellow 1A powerhouses Athens, Galena and Hartsburg-Emden before looking to wrap up a third straight perfect run through the Vermilion Valley Conference at Watseka and at home against Iroquois West.

The fact that their volleyball careers have come down to just one more home game is hard to believe, but Lucht and her classmates don’t have time to think about that yet.

“Yeah, it has (gone by fast). I’m just trying to push it to the back (of my mind), though,” Lucht said. “We have a big tournament this weekend that we’re focused on, and then just one game at a time when it comes to the postseason.”

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Cissna Park's Josie Neukomm celebrates a Timberwolves point during their home game against Bishop McNamara Wednesday, Oct. 15, 2025. (Mason Schweizer)