While they boast just three seniors, twice that many members of the Wilmington girls volleyball team brought key experience from last year’s run to the IHSA Class 2A Sectional championship round into the 2025 season.

After some serving and hitting drills before they departed for Monday’s IHSA Class 2A Herscher Regional semifinals against the host eight-seed Tigers, the Wilmington girls volleyball team had a talk on the bus ride over for the beginning of their quest for a second straight regional title.

“We talked about our goals and get our minds right before we play because it’s obviously a big deal now,” senior outside hitter Rachel Smith said. “But it’s also like every other game; we don’t need to be worried or put too much pressure on ourselves. Just play as ourselves, play as a team, and we’re all more hyped coming into it.”

The Tigers made it evident early they’d provide a worthy challenge, trading blows with the No. 1 seed Wildcats to take early leads of 3-2, 4-3 and 5-4. But once the Wildcats took advantage of an errant Herscher hit to take a 6-5 lead, they caught fire to pull away for a 25-11 win in the first set and held off a pesky Tigers squad for a 25-17 win in the second set to send them to Thursday’s regional championship against Pontiac.

After sweeping the Tigers in two Illinois Central Eight Conference games on their way to sharing the ICE title with Manteno, the Wildcats (28-5) knew that not only is there the age-old saying that it’s difficult to beat an opponent three times, but in regional play, everyone’s back to even.

“Herscher, we beat them twice, but it’s regionals, so we still had to get the jitters out,” Wildcats coach Kelly Van Duyne said. “I thought overall they played very, very well. Our setters were diverse with their sets and our hitters got balls down. Even when we got blocked, our passes were there to cover it up. I think they’re going to be ready for Thursday.”

Led by senior libero Kiley Scanlon, the Herscher defense did a sound job of digging up whatever Smith and classmate Molly Southall threw from the outsides, but eventually the continued attack became too much to overcome.

Smith caught fire in the back half of the first set, recording four kills and a pair of blocks in the final 10 points before adding another three kills, a block and an ace in the second set, the third kill coming at the end of a long volley for the final point of the night.

“I think we’re pretty relentless,” Smith, a Lewis commit, said. “They were pretty scrappy and getting a lot up, but we just keep going at it. It’s good that they’d get a good dig and we’d just get right back at it.”

In addition to their sound defensive effort, the Tigers got solid offense from a pair of juniors who had six kills apiece, Aisley Bufford and Avery Jones, as they finished the year 8-28.

While they knew the Wildcats were the favorites on Tuesday, that didn’t stop the Tigers from feeling enthused when they got to the gym. And while second-year head coach Joslyn Galeaz said the season didn’t quite live up to the expectations she had, the attitude they brought into Tuesday was a prime example of the strides they made down the stretch.

“They were so excited,” Galeaz said. “They were in the locker room like, ‘guys we’re the underdogs, let’s come out and have fun, we have nothing to lose.’ I loved the energy.”

The Wildcats will take on Pontiac after the Indians held off Peotone in the four-five matchup, with the fourth-seeded Indians besting the Blue Devils 25-20, 25-23.

In a game that Blue Devils coach Kathy Barger called a “really, really good game with a lot of smart players and a lot of skill on both sides,” the first set alone saw 11 ties, the last coming when Pontiac’s Trinity Cheek’s kill made it 16-16. Izzy Hinz put the Indians (28-7) ahead 17-16 a play later, a lead they held for a first-set win.

They carried that momentum into the second set, scoring the first seven points. But the senior-heavy Blue Devils (20-14) bounced back, and after senior outside hitter Mia Connolley’s kill got them on the board, they went on a 15-5 run to pull get back in it at 15-12.

The Indians found some breathing room with back-to-back points, but the Peotone rally continued, as the Blue Devils eventually tied things at 22 on a Cora Pagliarulo kill. But save for a Pontiac hitting error, that would be the last Blue Devil point, as the Indians found life with a 3-1 run to put things away.

“That’s kind of been our season,” Barger said. “We kind of liked to come back from behind, especially like that second set where we clawed back. I’m pretty proud of the way they played and worked hard.”

Connolley and Pagliarulo are two of the biggest members of a six-deep senior class that also includes Peyton Bisping, Allie Werner, Ava Kosmos and Ella Stupegia, a group Barger said will be missed dearly.

“The leadership, the skill, the desire,” Barger said she’ll remember most. “They were just the total package of players that hopefully our younger players aspire to be.”