Oswego trips Joliet West, advances to play for program’s first sectional title

BOLINGBROOK — This year's edition of the Oswego volleyball team wants to make history.

The Panthers took a big step toward the first sectional championship in program history Tuesday night by beating Joliet West 25-17, 25-19 in the semifinals of the Class 4A Bolingbrook Sectional. The win puts Oswego (32-4) in Thursday's title match against Lockport, which beat Lincoln-Way West 25-8, 20-25, 25-23 in the other semifinal.

Long Beach State recruit Sidney Hamaker was her usual dominant self with nine kills, four blocks and six digs, while Western Michigan commit Mia Jurkovic had eight kills and Kelsey Foster added four. Alexis Terrazas had seven digs, while Ava Flanigan had 23 assists.

"We want so bad to get over the hump," Hamaker said. "Our school has never won a sectional championship, and we have had that goal all season. We want to make history, not just for ourselves but for the entire school. That would mean so much.

"We have so many seniors that have been playing together since like seventh grade, and we all get along great. We are playing for each other and that makes it mean more."

After winning the first set, the Panthers jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the second. Joliet West (28-10) came back to tie it at 4-4 and 5-5 before Oswego moved out to a 9-6 lead. Again, West rallied, this time taking an 11-10 lead on a kill by Emma Salerno. The lead was short-lived, however, as Hamaker had a kill and a block and Flanigan added a block to give Oswego the lead for good at 13-11. The closest Joliet West got after that was 14-13.

"We have never won a sectional title, but it's something we have been building toward," Oswego coach Gary Mosley said. "Our mantra all season has been to go 1-0 every day. We went 1-0 today, we want go 1-0 tomorrow at practice and then come here Thursday and go 1-0.

"After watching the other match, the girls saw that this is not the time of year to let up or lose focus. We made some adjustments to what Joliet West was doing. The girls did the things they were asked to do and they were very coachable. Our front line really shut the door down the stretch."

According to Hamaker, that was in part due to the special relationship she and her teammates share.

"We know we can talk to each other," she said. "And, we aren't afraid of hurting each others' feelings. We know it's not personal. If someone tells someone else they need to do something better, they know they are only saying it to help the team. It's not to be mean. We all just want to win and to do whatever we can to help each other."

Joliet West was led by seven digs and 10 assists from Lina Govoni, while Salerno had a team-high seven kills. Mady Gant, Penny Wagner and Faith Jordan all had four kills, while Eden Eyassu had five digs and Julia Adams added 11 assists.

"I'm proud of this team and how they've continue to show what Joliet West volleyball is," West coach Chris Lincoln said. "With the amount of talent we lost from last year, I was very impressed with how every single girl stepped up and helped make their own statement.

"Three regional championships in a row in Class 4A is a tough thing to do, so we are very proud of that."