Wilmington volleyball sets school history with 'W'

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WATSEKA -- Wilmington High School's girls volleyball team made school history on Thursday.

The Wildcats captured the school's first sectional championship in any girls sports when they defeated Clifton Central 25-16, 25-12 in the Class 2A Watseka Sectional finals.

Wilmington (32-3) advances to Saturday's Princeton Supersectional. The Wildcats, who defeated Peotone 25-20, 25-19 in the sectional semifinals, take on Princeton at 7 p.m. Saturday.

"This is very exciting and the whole community is excited," Wilmington coach Dan Drye said. "The school has had success in football, baseball and wrestling, but the girls' volleyball team had never won a sectional match, and now we've wib a sectional championship."

Clifton Central (23-9) were close midway through Game 1 , but then Wilmington went on a roll. The Wildcats took that momentum into Game 2.

"The girls played terrific," Drye said. "We did not have any nerves and the kids were really calm.

"We had one little stretch where they started doing tips on us, but we called a timeout and after that we rolled."

The serving of Erin Murphy was a key for Wilmington. She had 12 points and 5 digs. Ashley Richards added 24 assists.

Wilmington turned a 4-3 lead into a 14-4 advantage in Game 2.

"Our school had never made it this far before, so winning this is a big deal," said Richards, a senior setter. "So, this was pretty awesome.

"Most of us have been playing for so long that we were definitely one as a team.

"Last year, we lost in the first round of the playoffs, so we are excited to get this far."

The Comets were unable to stop Wilmington senior outside hitter Carly Florian, who posted a match-high 15 kills.

In Game 2, Clifton Central tried to stop Florian, which opened up possibilities for junior middle Gina Wright (5 kills, 3 blocks) and senior middle Tara Spell (4 kills).

"It feels great," said Florian, who sealed the victory with a Game 2 kill. "We made school history tonight. This is as far as we have ever gotten. Now, we want to keep it going and make it to state.

"We mesh so well together and we all get along. This means so much for our coach, for our girls and for our school."

Sophomore outside hitter Liz Alberico contributed 6 digs.

In Game 1, the Wildcats owned an 11-10 lead, but they used a 9-2 spurt to break the game open.

Senior libero Abby Shorkey summed up what the Wildcats' huge victory meant.

"We had wonderful tip coverage and our setter was chasing down everything," Shorkey said. "We all gave 110 percent and stayed together.

"This is way beyond our wildest dreams. We wanted to come this far, but now that we have come this far, we want more. We can taste it. We can feel it."