Coming off their first home game win against the Romeoville Spartans, West was ready to take their record to 3-0 against the Plainfield East Bengals on Wednesday. “We were ready to beat this team from an early start. I was excited to get out on the court,” said setter, Amy Koerner.
But the Tigers were too lucky. The Bengals took game one with a score of 25-17. In game two of the match, the Tigers fought back hard with kills from outside hitter Simone Carroll, but the Bengals took the final game with a score of 25-22. “It’s always upsetting to lose a match. This game definitely brings on the pressure,” Carroll commented on the teams’ performance after the match. “We’ll see what tomorrow’s match brings.”
The Varsity team also suffered a tough loss against Plainfield East. The Bengals conquered game one of the match, leaving west to try and fight back in game two.
The Tigers took on the Plainfield South Cougars on Thursday night hoping to pull out at least one win to end the week on a high note. On the sophomore level, the Tigers lost game one of the match with a score of 25-19 in favor of the cougars. “I think we had first game jitters, especially me… As long as we kept pushing through game two, I knew we could have a chance at winning this,” said the Tiger’s libero Haylie Clement.
What Rodriguez had hoped for came true. The Tigers took game two with a 16 to 9 lead on the Cougars, eventually finishing the game 25 to 21. Excited with the win, the Tigers were ready to fight hard in game three. “It really lifted our spirits to win game two. I knew we had a solid chance at winning,” said Koerner.
Game three proved to be a battle to the end for the Tigers. Neck and neck with the Cougars, West had a steady lead with the help of middle hitter Shannon Doran. Serving the game point ball was sophomore defensive specialist Sara Aldarondo. Unfortunately, the Cougars took the third match due to a service error by west. The score was 25 to 23.
Despite the loss, the Tigers do see improvement from the 2011 season. “This year is starting off to a pretty good start. We work hard in practice and you can definitely see the progress were making,” said Jennifer Ames.
Head coach Alan Mart also commented on the teams’ growth saying, “My goals are to continue to develop as a program and also learning how to win/compete at a high level. The program is starting to get back to where it once was – we still have some work to do.”
The Tigers next match will be held at home against Lincoln Way North. Game play begins at 4:30 P.M. Come out and support your team!