Usually, when a high school team is missing a Division-I recruit, the team’s play suffers.

That wasn’t the case Thursday for Joliet West‘s volleyball team in a 25-14, 25-19 win over Joliet Catholic.

The Tigers (7-1) were without standout middle hitter and Texas Tech-bound Faith Jordan, but their next-man-up mentality was on full display. Without Jordan in the middle, Joliet West relied on senior Mady Gant and junior Penny Wagner in the middle, along with sophomores Na’Riah Autman and Lexie Grevengoed on the outside, to maintain their dominance at the net throughout the match.

Grevengoed finished with a team-leading 10 kills, while Autman had six and Lina Govoni and Gant each had five. Govoni led West with 15 assists, while Julia Adams had 13. Defensively, Eden Eyassu led with 14 digs, while Grevengoed and Govoni had seven apiece.

“We know we are going to have to deal with Faith being out for a couple of weeks,” Grevengoed said. “But, we were able to push through it tonight. We’ll keep working through it, and hopefully she’ll be back soon.

“It’s always a lot of fun to play against Joliet Catholic. Our student section really gets up for this match, and that energy in the gym is big for us on the court. We have pretty good chemistry on this team. We all get along well, and the setter-hitter connections are really good.”

Joliet West got out to a 16-8 lead early in the first set and was able to maintain that lead throughout. The closest the Angels (0-4) got after that was 19-12.

The second set was a different story, as the Angels ramped up their defense and kept things much tighter. They were within 13-11 midway through the set. Joliet West went on a quick 3-0 run on a kill by Govoni, an ace by Eyassu, and a combined block by Govoni and Gant. JCA responded with a kill from freshman Ella Horn, one of six on the night for the freshman, and an ace by Maddie Samolis to pull to within 16-13, but could get no closer.

Joliet West followed with a 6-0 spurt highlighted by a pair of kills by Gant and one by Autman. A kill by Grevengoed gave the Tigers a 24-16 lead before JCA scored three straight points on a kill by Maggie Tibbott, an ace by Lila Mihelich and a West hitting error. West’s Penny Wagner ended the match with a kill.

“Everyone on this team steps up when we need them,” West coach Chris Lincoln said. “This is the first time that I have had a team where our scrimmages are very scrappy and competitive. Everyone pushes and challenges each other in practice, and that helps everyone get better.

“There are no egos on this team, either. No one gets upset if someone else gets a kill, as long as someone gets one. Teams really don’t know where the ball is going to come from because we have so many different ways to attack. And our setters to a great job of putting the ball right where it needs to be.”

The Angels remain winless in coach Emily Brown’s first season, but they have played a very tough schedule early on. Their four opponents – Mother McAuley, Bradley-Bourbonnais, Minooka and Joliet West º have a combined record of 22-4.

Tibbot led JCA with seven kills, while Horn had six and Ella Godeaux added four. Godeaux had five digs and Samolis four, while Tibbott and Emma Beattie each had 12 assists.

“Every match we’ve played, I’ve gotten comments from the other coach about how scrappy our girls are,” Brown said. “It makes me feel very good that these girls have no quit in them. They are so fun to watch. Their defense is relentless. What we need to do now is come out fighting that hard right away.

“We are a young team and we are still trying to put things together. Once these girls start really believing in themselves, they are going to win some matches and surprise some people.”