Lyons Township High School seniors Taylor Carroll and Colleen Chambers once again won the cousins’ girls volleyball bragging rights against York, Oct. 20. More important, they and the Lions got the result that they really wanted.
The Lions’ 25-20, 25-22 victory in Elmhurst clinched a share of the West Suburban Conference Silver Division title with OPRF with 5-1 records.
“My three years on varsity we’ve never won conference before so it’s always been a goal I’ve had,” Chambers said. “Being able to achieve it just shows how god we are this year and how much work we put in to really push through and beat hard teams because our conference is so good.”
Leading the Lions (29-6) were Carroll (13 kills, 6 digs), Chambers (21 assists, 10 digs, 2 blocks, 7 service points), Julia Ahrens (10 digs, 4 assists), Gabby Munoz (8 digs, 12 serve receives), Olivia Pora (6 kills), Avery Lee (6 digs, 6 service points), Shannon Carroll (4 kills), Ula Garbauskas (3 kills, 3 blocks), Francesca Wolf (3 kills).
Carroll and Chambers and sophomore Shannon Carroll, Taylor’s sister, once again were victorious over York (21-14, 2-4 in Silver) and cousin Eileen Carroll. In Taylor Carroll’s four varsity seasons, the Lions are undefeated against York. The teams, however, could meet in the Class 4A Oak Lawn Regional final Thursday, Oct. 29 as the respective No. 3 and 6 seeds for the Argo Sectional.
Eileen Carroll, a starting junior outside hitter, led the Dukes with eight kills and had 13 service receptions.
“I know I aced her and blocked her two times,” Chambers said with a laugh. “Those are just funny moments. She knows we’re joking. She’s just a great all-around player. They’re lucky to have her.”
Mother McAuley (31-4) and Marist (28-4), the state’s top-two rated teams in the state by ILPrepVolleyball.com, also are the top two seeds in the sectional.
RBHS (25-10), the No. 5 sectional seed, is home for the Riverside Brookfield Regional, going for its first regional title since 2016. The Bulldogs played No. 12 Morton Tuesday with the winner most likely meeting No. 4 St. Laurence (26-8) for the regional title at 6 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 29.
The Lions lost at McAuley 25-23, 25-8, Oct. 20, and to Lockport (30-5) 25-23, 25-23, Saturday.
A Silver title might have been the last thing on the Lions’ minds after they lost their first match of the season and Silver opener at home to Glenbard West 25-23, 25-22 back on Sept. 8. Yet they won out and handed OPRF (22-8) its only Silver loss 25-21, 25-23, Oct. 13.
Glenbard West and Downers Grove North shared third at 4-2. The Trojans gave the Hilltoppers their other loss.
“After losing to Glenbard West, we were kind of like, ‘We’re not invincible. We’re not going to win every single game.’ So I think that game was really important. I think that loss helped us beat OPRF,” Chambers said.
“I think that (Glenbard West) loss lit a lot of fires under our feet that we can’t take any point for granted,” LTHS coach Jill Bober said.
“Traditionally, LT has seen pretty good serve receive and defense, but I think we were especially scrappy (against York). A good win and we did it in two (sets). I’m really proud of the way we played and how we’re moving towards postseason.”
The Lions won all of their Silver matches in two sets but nearly needed a third when York pulled ahead 16-11 and 18-14 in the second set.
LTHS gained a 23-22 lead with a service error. With Ahrens serving, Garbauskas created match point by winning a battle at the net for a kill with help from Shannon Carroll, getting more playing time with Blake Spreyne injured. Garbauskas followed with a solo block for match point.
“It felt really nice to get that game-winning point. Honestly, it was a great way to finish the game,” Garbauskas said. “It’s definitely nerve wracking (in tough matches) but I trust my teammates and myself and I know that we’re going to make the right moves. I just kind of play through the pressure.”