Bolingbrook falls short in sectional final

ORLAND PARK – Coming off Monday’s stunning playoff win over top-seeded Lockport, the Bolingbrook volleyball team was aiming to prove its surprising run was far from over.

Yet, with a roster made up of mostly juniors, the lack of postseason experience ultimately caught up with the Raiders. Despite battling throughout the night, Bolingbrook fell to Andrew, 26-24, 25-21, in Wednesday’s Class 4A Sandburg Sectional Championship.

“I can’t say enough about them,” Bolingbrook coach Molly DeSerf said. “We’re very, very young. I don’t think anyone expected this. They say ‘act like you’ve been there.’ Sometimes you’ve got to get there first to get a taste of it.”

The Raiders had trouble sustaining momentum from Monday’s win, falling behind, 13-8, in the opening set after back-to-back kills from Andrew junior Amber Gahse.

The Thunderbolts had the Raiders on the edge, 24-19, but Bolingbrook junior Madison Shroba (13 kills, 7 digs) strung together a series of late kills that rallied her team and got them back in the contest. Fellow junior Cydney Anderson served four straight points, tightening the set to 24-all before a pair of kills from senior Gabriela Walsh sealed the win for Andrew.

“It’s endless,” said DeSerf of her team’s effort throughout the postseason run. “You talk about trusting the process. These past two weeks, we actually saw the process evolve. You can hear the things that we’ve talked about early on. I think that comes around very rarely.”

That process helped Bolingbrook shake off its first set defeat since Oct. 16 and jump out to a 5-3 lead to start the second contest. The advantage was short-lived, as a pair of aces from Gahse gave Andrew an 8-5 edge and forced a Raiders timeout.

A kill from Anderson and an ace from sophomore Sarah Harvey helped Bolingbrook tie the game at 9. The set went back-and-forth from there, with another kill from Shroba even giving the Raiders a 14-13 lead. But the Thunderbolts eventually broke a 15-all tie by going on a 10-6 scoring run. The game was secured on an ace from libero Brooke Haggerty.

As Andrew students rushed the court to celebrate their team’s sectional championship, Bolingbrook’s unexpected tournament run came to a close with tearful embraces among players and coaches.

“We all stayed together from the beginning to the end,” Shroba said. “I couldn’t have asked for a better team to do it with. We didn’t care about anything around us. All we cared about was each other. It’s like nothing I’ve ever imagined, and I’m just so grateful.”

While Bolingbrook’s youth may have played a factor in Wednesday’s defeat, it also served as motivation for a team quickly setting its sights towards the future. With championship experience gained earlier than expected, the Raiders already are confident this year’s playoff run could push them even further next season.

“We’re capable of doing big things next year,” Shroba said. “Considering we’re a group of mostly juniors it just boosts our motivation that much more knowing the big things that we can accomplish.”