Girls volleyball: Strong serving leads Joliet West past Joliet Central

JOLIET – Sometimes, the serve is somewhat of an afterthought in a volleyball match.

That is not the case for Joliet West.

The Tigers collected 18 aces against only four serving errors Tuesday night in a 25-6, 25-8 win over district and Southwest Prairie Conference rival Joliet Central on Pink Heals Night at West.

Senior Ashlyn Noon had six aces on the night to go with four assists.

“We work a lot on our serves,” Noon said. “We have drills where we work with a partner and we have to serve 10 serves inbounds in a row. If we miss, we have to start over.

“Aggressive serving can get some points that can make a difference in a match, and if we are getting our serves in, we aren’t giving points away. It’s a pretty important part of our game.”

Noon got West (19-6, 6-0 SPC) off to a quick start, serving three aces in a five-point burst to begin the match. Junior Taylor Brenczewski got into the act, putting down eight aces – including three straight – in a 14-point serving run that gave West a 23-4 lead.

“We served really well,” West coach Chris Lincoln said. “We are playing very good volleyball right now. We are focusing on consistency in serving and serve receive.

“When we are getting good serve receive, like we did tonight, then we can get into our offense.”

The Tigers’ offense centered around Payton Darguzis early in the second set, as the junior outside hitter had three kills en route to West taking a 12-4 lead. Darguzis added three aces, while Ava Grevengoed had four kills, five digs, and an ace, and Brenczewski had six assists. Iyonna Pike added a pair of kills, while Brooke Schwall also had a kill for the Tigers.

For Central (2-16, 0-6), sophomore Sadie Johnson had a kill and an ace, while freshman Alyssa Flood and junior Jasmin Banuelos each had a kill.

“We are very young,” Central coach Matt Butnariu said. “At any time, five of the six players on the floor are either freshmen or sophomores. We got better with our serve receive in the second set.

“For these young girls, it’s great experience for them. Some of them were playing grade-school volleyball last year, so that transition to varsity is quite a change. But they are a good group of girls. They keep playing hard, and they love the sport. It’s about learning for us this year, and we have been doing that.”

Lincoln was happy to see players come off the bench and perform well.

“They have been good for us all year,” he said. “They challenge the starters at practice, and that’s important to us.

“And it’s always fun to play against Joliet Central. It’s a big deal to our players.”

The ample crowd was almost entirely dressed in pink T-shirts, benefiting Pink Heals, an organization that raises funds for cancer patients and survivors. Before the match, the teams honored survivors Brittany Bockenek, Dana Butt, Amy Detterming, Kim Garcia, Penelope Gomez, Glynis Landers, Christine Lipke, Isidra Martinez, Lyn Melnick, Jackie Purchase, Jenny Siok, Wanda Turner and Kimberly Weeks.