The veteran in Vertin

NEW LENOX -- Kim Vertin's first hitting attempt of the night sailed long.

It was one of the few mishits the senior middle hitter would have all evening. Vertin showed her veteran leadership with a match-high 13 kills and teamed with freshman middle hitter T-ara Austin down the stretch to lead Joliet Township to a 25-19, 20-25, 25-17 victory over a scrappy Lincoln-Way West squad in a SouthWest Suburban Conference crossover Monday.

"I remember that one," Vertin smiled of the opening hit of the match that went a bit further than she would have liked. "After that I wanted to start killing balls and I did."

She certainly did that, but the key in the third set was her teammates did, too. After falling way behind in a second-set loss, the Steelmen (9-8) came out swinging in the decisive set. Sophomore outside hitter Courtney Robinson (4 kills, 8 digs) and junior middle hitter Morgan Graves (3 aces, 8 digs) put down kills as JT jumped out to a 3-0 lead and never trailed.

The Warriors (6-16) never got closer than two points the rest of the way -- the last time was at 6-4 on an ace by sophomore middle blocker Rachel Johnson (2 blocks).

Leading 9-6, the Steelmen went on a 13-5 burst behind kills from four different players. A kill by Austin (5 kills, 5 blocks) then gave JT a 23-12 lead and it looked all over.

But West didn't give up and scored four straight points behind kills by freshman middle hitter Sarah Wegrzyn (5 kills) and junior outside hitter Samantha Villa (4 kills, 14 digs).

It then appeared that JT had moved a point from victory when the Warriors returned a ball into the net. However it was ruled that the Steelmen had committed a net violation and West was within 23-17.

That was enough to get Austin fired up and she hammered a kill down at the net for the next point and a 24-17 lead.

"I was really upset," Austin said of the net call. "So, I went up to our setter (sophomore Mary Jane Reilly) and said 'Give me the ball, enough is enough.'"

Austin's hit was nearly enough, and moments later, the Steelmen celebrated the win when a West hit went just long. The victory puts JT over .500 for the first time this season and was its eighth win in the last 11 matches.

"We just had to pull it together," Austin said. "Playing with Kim Vertin has been an inspiration to me. My sister (Antoneya Veasy-Smith) played on the team last year and she's best friends with Kim, and Kim has been like a big sister to me."

"T-ara stepped up," said Vertin, who is in her third varsity season. "She doesn't play like a freshman, she plays like a junior or senior."

"When we got to game three we showed our inexperience," West coach Rory Harrison said. "We are still learning to see what works. Kim Vertin was everywhere and had a good match for them and Austin did too."

The opening game featured 11 ties, including seven consecutive to 7-7. JT had a 16-11 advantage, but the Warriors came back to tie it at 16-16 on an ace by sophomore outside hitter Annie Wegrzyn (7 kills, 13 digs, 13 good serve receives) and a kill by younger sister Sarah Wegrzyn.

Moments later, Sarah Wegrzyn had a kill and an ace to give West the lead at 18-17. But with the score tied 19-19, Vertin went to work and had a trio of kills and a block in a 6-0 burst to end the opener.

"They (West) picked up a lot," said Vertin, who added 2 aces, 3 blocks and 14 digs. "But we put some bigger ones down and that's what counts at the end."

West had its share of hits and never trailed in the second set. Leading 11-8, the Warriors went on an 8-0 burst behind a couple of aces from junior setter Sarah Garvick (22 assists) to pull out to a 19-8 advantage.

"Sarah is doing a nice job as setter," said Harrison, of Garvick, who has played nearly every position this season. "We miss her as a hitter, but she's such a team player. She's been around the game and she knows the big picture."

JT battled back to within 22-19 on a Vertin ace. Leading 23-20, the Warriors finally put away game two on a kills by Annie Wegrzyn and Garvick.

"Give credit to Lincoln-Way West," JT coach Al Mart said. "Their girls played hard and with the attitude of competing. We were fortunate to win Game 1 and they outplayed us in Game 2.

"But we put some subs in during Game 2 and they showed a level of intensity and the starters picked up on that. In Game 3 we got good play from Kim Vertin and T-ara Austin and Breanne Shaw got involved."

Shaw, a senior outside hitter in her fourth year on the varsity, finished with 6 kills, 16 digs, 13 good serve receives and two blocks. Junior outside hitter Jackie Wysocki had 8 digs, senior defensive specialist Tierra Pittman added 13 digs and Reilly dished out 30 assists and dug up 7 balls.

The match was the first of 14 in the next two weeks for the Steelmen, who will certainly find out where they are in that span.

"We've got a winning record now," Vertin said. "We want to improve on that in the next few weeks."