Wilmington continues banner year, beats Chicago University to advance to first sectional final since 2015

MANTENO — The Wilmington girls volleyball team last week was able to wrap up its first regional championship since 2015.

After a 25-21, 25-15 win over Chicago University in Tuesday's Class 2A Manteno Sectional semifinal, the Wildcats (27-8) are now in their first sectional championship match since that same season.

The win continues a banner year for the Illinois Central Eight Conference champions, who went 14-0 in conference play for the program's first undefeated conference season before their postseason play has stayed at that same competitive pace.

For Wilmington coach Kelly Van Duyne, watching the action unfold match-by-match has just reiterated the slogan the team adapted over the summer, one that encouraged them to both prepare and act like the champions they aspire to be.

"Our summer camp shirt was 'practice like a champion,' with the word act in practice [highlighted]," Van Duyne said. "That was our motto coming into the summer and I told them they just keep proving it.

"Conference champions, 14-0, undefeated for the first time in Wilmington history for volleyball, then we turn around, win the regional championship, and we're just using everything as a stepping stone to get to that sectional championship, then that supersectional and then state."

Like they've seen most of the season, the Wildcats got a well-rounded attack from their front line, with Rachel Smith (seven kills, two blocks), Molly Southall (five kills, two blocks) and Maggie Lindsey (four kills, three blocks) all causing a ruckus at the net. Behind them, Addison Billingsley set everything up with 12 assists and was a thorn in the Maroons' side from the service line with four aces.

The Wildcats had one common opponent with the Maroons, Evergreen Park, and that was the one Chicago University match they were able to get film on. Van Duyne said she and the team spent the past five days obsessing over the tape to concoct a gameplan that the team went out and employed to perfection to earn the two-set sweep, a gameplan that largely revolved around keeping the ball away from Maroons libero Zora Peek-Taylor.

"Minus our libero [Skylar Knight], she was probably one of the best liberos we've seen," Van Duyne said. "She was getting everything up, and our goal was to stay away from her and we did.

"On serve receive, on tips, on our passing, we knew we had to stay away from her because she could win it with her defense."

The first set was largely neck-and-neck, as neither team led by more than two points until the second of back-to-back aces from Billingsley gave the Wildcats an 18-15 lead. The Maroons swiftly pulled back to even with three points in a row, but the Wildcats were able to start gaining the separation they enjoyed in the second set when Southall's kill wrapped up the first game with a 25-21 win.

It's been a busy time for the junior setter and right side. A softball star first and foremost, Southall committed to North Carolina State's softball program Friday. And with the stress that came with settling on her future, it was putting together wins on the hardwood that's kept her mind at ease.

"It was a little hard. Volleyball was my way to just get away from that and not think about it, because it was a tough decision," Southall said. "I'm really happy with my decision and everything like that."

Following a back-and-forth affair in the first set, the Wildcats left little doubt in the second. They quickly jetted out to a 9-3 lead and saw their first double-digit lead come on Billingsley's second string of back-to-back aces that made the score 20-10. They traded points with the Maroons until a Chicago University hitting error secured the 25th and final point for a 25-15 win that secured the Wildcats' spot in the round of 16.

Southall said that the team was able to build their own runs while limiting the Maroons to very few runs of their own, which ended up being the difference as they ran away late.

"We're just really good at pushing off of our points," Southall said. "After we get a really good point, we're really good at building, building and building, and if we lose a point we don't get down."

As the Wildcats now set their sights on winning the program's first-ever sectional championship when they return to Manteno to face Chicago Christian at 6 p.m. Thursday, they'll look to continue using their balanced approach to accomplish just that.

"We're very diverse in the front row, and the back row has been stepping up too," Van Duyne said. "Some teams might only have one really, really good hitter, our whole front line can put the ball down.

"It's very diverse and you can't focus on one player, because if you do, two more are gonna back them up."