By Noah Poser
Two teams arrived at Little Village Lawndale High School on Thursday, Oct. 24, with long winning streaks they were hoping to extend just one match further.
And throughout the opening set, both teams appeared capable of doing just that.
Jones College Prep drew first blood by winning the first set 25-20. However, it was Lane Tech wasting no time responding, quickly taking the second set in dominating fashion 25-8 to send the match to a third-set decider.
It was in the deciding set, down 16-13, that Jones head coach Paul Rusev called a timeout. He didn’t know it then, but ultimately it would prove to be the decision that sparked a Jones comeback, propelling the Eagles to a second consecutive Varsity Girls Volleyball Chicago Public League Championship after taking the third set 25-23.
Rusev’s message to his players during the critical timeout was clear.
“I told them this is not a skill issue,” he said. “It’s all about mentality. We need to stay positive, focus on us and stop thinking and just play. We need to stay aggressive and do what we’ve been doing all season.
“We’ve been playing phenomenal the whole season, so there was no reason for us to get in our heads and completely shut down, so I was happy they responded and ignored whatever happened in the second set and just played.”
And while winning a championship in such dramatic fashion is a team effort, three players went above and beyond to help spearhead the response to their coach’s message. Those players were team captains Abby Keller and Kylynn White and fellow senior Simona LaGiglio.
Keller, who was voted the Player of the Match, made her presence felt as a leader and energizer throughout, while LaGiglio and White were spectacular on the offensive and defensive side of play, respectively. LaGiglio in particular had numerous key kills (as she did in the Championship match last year) that drew the praise of Keller.
“I don’t even know how to describe it,” Keller said. “We were just playing like a team. Everyone stepped up when they needed to and even when people were making mistakes, no one let it get to them. Like Simona, her kills were insane. When she hits, I feel so comfortable setting her because I know what’s going to happen. She makes me look good.”
LaGiglio, despite helping lead her team to a second consecutive title, didn’t want her performance to overshadow those of the rest of her teammates.
“I think I had a pretty good match,” she said. “But it took the whole team. I definitely made mistakes; I mean we all did. Yeah, it was probably one of my better matches I would say, but we all wanted this really badly and got it done together. It means a lot that we got back to this point and were able to win again.”
For Lane, the match didn’t end how it had hoped, but the team now looks ahead to a future which includes players such as talented freshman Janelle-Elise Ibeagha, who had eight kills in the match, and Sophia Polec, who had a couple of blocks returning next season.
In fact, Rusev was quick to note that despite having confidence in his own team going into next year, that Lane is going to be right there in contention with them in future seasons in large part due to its talented underclassmen.
“They’re definitely one of the hardest opponents we faced this season,” Rusev said. “They put a lot of pressure on us, and you saw that in the second set especially. They have a lot of freshmen in their starting lineup and they’re going to be hard to beat moving forward.”
But before any future clashes between the two teams can commence, both schools will first take part in this year’s State Regional Playoffs, where Jones will face Hinsdale Central and Lane will face Elk Grove Tuesday, Oct. 29.
