Lady ‘Cat champs ready for the playoffs

The Lady Cats finished their regular season by defeating Evergreen Park at all three levels.
Varsity squad won 29-27, 11-25, 25-19. As a team, they had 26 kills with Rachel Smith and Molly Southall leading the way with 6 each. Maggie Lindsey chipped in with 5, while Taylor Stefancic had 4. Smith also had 12 digs, 2 blocks, 2 assists and an ace.
Southall had 16 digs and 14 assists. Lindsey had 3 blocks and 2 digs. Libero Skylar Knight had 16 digs and 3 aces.
The Wilmington JV won 25-22, 25-22. Sami Liaromatis had 22 digs and 2 kills while Gabby Kluk added another 12 digs. Aly Allgood led the team offensively with 7 kills, 2 aces and 2 blocks. Ashlyn Warriner led as the setter with 14 assists, 4 digs and 2 aces.
The Freshmen won 25-12, 21-25, 25-20. Amara Bown 7 kills and 7 digs. Mollie Bohac ended the evening with 8 aces, 7 assists and 3 kills.
CONFERENCE
CHAMPS!
Even though Wilmington sealed the deal winning the ICE Conference in volleyball by beating Lisle, the Lady Cats wanted to make their mark by finishing 14-0 with one game left against Streator. And boy, they sure did leave a mark. The Cats beat Streator in 3 games: 20-25, 25-20, 25-17 putting an exclamation point behind conference champions!
Not only did the players bounce back after losing the first game, they had total control over the next two never not having the lead.
"This is our house, our game. We're not going to let anyone come in here and take away our chance to have an undefeated season in conference, especially not on senior night," Wilmington coach Kelly Van Duyne said.
“Every player looked alive in the next two sets, playing for each other, playing for their united goal, and playing for the seniors: libero Skylar Knight, defensive specialist Cole Drown, middle blocker Maggie Lindsey, and outside hitter Reese Van Duyne.”
Drown was on the sideline due to a knee injury, but she was cheering for her fellow seniors and the rest of her team.
Knight ended the evening with 17 digs, 3 aces, and 2 assists. Lindsey had 3 blocks and 2 kills. Van Duyne had 10 digs, 3 kills, 3 blocks, 2 assists and 1 ace. Also helping their team to victory was Rachel Smith with 15 digs, 8 kills, 4 aces and a block. Molly Southall added 14 digs, 13 assists, 5 kills, and 2 blocks.
The Lady Cats are not done. They have reached one goal by winning the conference. Their next goal is Regionals.
Wilmington is hosting Regional played the winner of the Reed-Custer/Clifton Central game on Tuesday, October 29 at 6 p.m. The championship game will be at 6 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 31. A regional title for the Lady ‘Cats would advance them to the Manteno Sectional at 6 p.m. Nov. 5.
JV also won in 2: 25-13, 25-21. Sami Liaromatis ended the evening with 23 digs, 4 assists and 2 aces. Taryn Talley led offensively with 7 kills to go along with her 4 digs, 3 blocks, and an ace. Freshman won 25-22, 25-17. Taryn Gilbert had a great game in the back row with 12 digs while Amara Bown dominated in the front row with 8 kills.Setters Caroline Smith and Mollie Bohac led their team with Smith having 8 assists, 6 digs, and 3 aces with Bohac having 4 assists, 3 kills, 3 aces and a dig.