Girls volleyball: Joliet West pulls out 3-set thriller over Lincoln-Way West

JOLIET – On a team with such standouts as Ava Grevengoed and Gabby Piazza, it’s hard for Olivia Baxter to stand out.

On Tuesday, however, Baxter, the Joliet West libero, stood out for more than just wearing a bright yellow jersey. Baxter had a team-high 16 digs to spark the Tigers’ defense and consistently put the ball on target on serve receive in a 25-16, 18-25, 29-27 nonconference win over Lincoln-Way West.

“I take pride in playing defense,” Baxter said. “It’s a lot less showy than the hitters getting the kills, but I feel like it’s just as important. Me and Isabella [Nelson, another defensive specialist] run the defense in the back row.

“It was fun to play in a match like this. There was a big crowd, and that’s always fun. Of course, it’s always nice to have a player like Ava [Grevengoed] to go to when we need it.”

Grevengoed led all players with 20 kills and put down her final two on the last points of the match after Elly Decker tied it at 27 for the Warriors. Time and time again, when the chips were down and Joliet West (11-1) needed a point, it was Grevengoed or teammate Gabby Piazza (10 kills) delivering a key kill or block. Grevengoed delivered a kill on eight of the Tigers’ final 16 points.

“It’s nice to have No. 1 [Grevengoed] to go to,” Joliet West coach Chris Lincoln said. “And Gabby Piazza really stepped up tonight, too. We were able to adjust our block a little bit, but that is still something that can get better. Olivia Baxter does a great job and moves very well on the court. She kind of runs that back row, and she is a great leader to have out there.”

Joliet West cruised in the first set, with Grevengoed accounting for five kills and two aces.

Lincoln-Way West (10-4), however, didn’t call it a night.

The Warriors came out strong in the second set and never trailed, jumping out to an 8-4 lead and controlling the action the rest of the way with the attacking of Caroline Smith (16 kills) and Decker.

“Our girls did not give up,” Warrior coach Kendall Villa said. “They are used to fighting for everything, and they did again tonight. This is a tough region to play in. There are no easy games. We just needed to focus on coming back and we did that.

“It’s great to play in a match like this. It felt like a playoff game. It’s great experience to play a match like this against a team like Joliet West. I would rather have a match like this where there’s a lot to learn from than one where we just blow someone out and don’t really learn much.”

Joliet West jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the third set, but Lincoln-Way West rallied to move ahead 10-8. Down the stretch it was tied at 12, 13, 17, 18, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26 and 27 before Grevengoed ended it with back-to-back kills.

“Give a lot of credit to Lincoln-Way West,” Lincoln said. “They did a great job with their serve receive, and they are a very good, talented team. We definitely want to play matches like this. It shows us what we need to work on, and we still need to work on our blocking.

“Of course, we aren’t going to see a lot of teams that have a couple of hitters like Lincoln-Way West does with Smith and Decker.”