RURAL STREATOR - Every year, Woodland’s breast cancer awareness and fundraising night is an emotional one.
The 2022 edition Thursday at the Warrior Dome was no exception.
After players dedicated their performances to cancer sufferers and escorted survivors or photos of loved ones whose lives the disease has claimed onto the floor, the Warriors volleyball team looked especially fired up and on top of its game, handling visiting Dwight in straight sets for a Tri-County Conference victory and Woodland’s 20th win of the season, 25-10, 25-16, on Play for the Cure night.
“The kids go all out [on Volley for the Cure/Play for the Cure nights], and we’ve been playing on a high for the last few games,” Woodland coach Michelle Pitte said. “Hopefully we continue on that into next week[’s Tri-County Conference Tournament at Seneca], and we’ll see how we do. ...
“Getting 20 wins, it’s communication, it’s team. We’re one team, and there isn’t one person who controls the whole thing. We all play together, and I think they were all playing for the fans tonight. They weren’t playing for themselves or for any record.
“They were playing for fun and for the fans.”
Woodland — now 20-3 overall and 6-1 in TCC competition — came out on fire after the emotional pregame ceremonies, scoring the night’s initial six points behind the service/setting of Shae Simons and kills from Kaleigh Benner, Cloee Johnston and Emma Highland.
“It’s amazing when all your hitters are on, because you can go to anybody and can trust them,” Simons said. “I’ve always trusted my teammates and what they do, and I’m so proud of us tonight, because we’ve been working our butts off this season, and we are 20-3. ...
“It is an amazing experience to play for people and play for what [cancer sufferers] have been through.”
Dwight finally got on the scoreboard thanks to a Maya Green kill, but that turned out to be one of only two Dwight points coming off the Trojans’ attack in the set.
Woodland continued to dominate play with a share-the-sets, hard-hitting attack orchestrated by Simons (16 assists, three aces on the night) and Johnston (five assists, six digs) feeding Highland (six kills), Benner (six kills, one stuff block), Johnston (four kills, one block), Clara Downey (four kills) and Malayna Pitte (three kills). Johnston rattled set point off a Dwight blocker’s arm and out of bounds in a sequence starting with a nifty Kaiden Connor dig (13 on the night) into a Simons assist.
Tri-County Conference volleyball: Woodland takes the first set over Dwight 25-10 on this Cloee Johnston kill off a Shae Simons assist …@Woodland5AD @dwight_230 pic.twitter.com/YJYZl24QDo
— J.T. Pedelty (@jtpedelty) October 7, 2022
The second set, too, began with the Warriors dominating. Starting with a Kassy Kodat kill, though, the Trojans (3-17 overall, 1-5 Tri-County) began to build a little momentum, twice climbing within one point, at 10-9 and 14-13.
“We really did play with them,” first-year Dwight coach Steven Lopez said. “I told my girls, [Woodland] is a very good defensive team, and we’re going to have to be really smart with our shots. ... Finally we started doing the roll shots, getting in the middle, getting [Woodland] out of system, but they are just a good, scrappy team.
“They just knew how to handle it, knew where to go, knew their angles and open spots. But we did start playing better and had a little more communication and strategy.”
Dwight stayed close for much of the second set until Woodland — led by two Simons aces, a Highland kill and a Johnston block — turned a tenuous 14-13 lead into a commanding 20-13 advantage, eventually closing things out on a Malayna Pitte stuff block in the center of the net for match point.
Tri-County Conference volleyball: Woodland defeats Dwight in straight sets 25-10, 25-16 on this match point to notch win No. 20 on the season.
— J.T. Pedelty (@jtpedelty) October 7, 2022
Story up tonight @MyWebTimes pic.twitter.com/d0SQDOzCQa
For Dwight, Kodat had an impressive second set to finish with five of her team’s nine kills on the night. Lilly Duffy tied Connor for the match lead in digs with a baker’s dozen.