OSWEGO -- Lainey Wyman is a back-her-up-against-a-wall kind of volleyball player.
The minute the stakes are raised, she raises the level of her game.
Wyman, a 6-foot-2 junior middle hitter, was all over the floor in Joliet Catholic Academy's 25-17, 25-9 victory over Oak Forest on Saturday afternoon at the 3A Oswego Supersectional.
She racked up five kills and three block kills as the Angels battled through some sloppy moments early to dust off the Bengals in a match that lasted 32 minutes. The victory boosted JCA's record to 5-1 in six supersectional matches over the last seven years.
The Angels (39-1) tied a school record for most victories in a single season, gained a berth in the IHSA's Final Four for the fifth time since 2003 and clinched their fifth state trophy in the last seven seasons. They also reduced their magic number to repeating as 3A state champs to 2.
JCA next will meet Crystal Lake Central at 5:30 p.m. Friday in a 3A semifinal match at Illinois State University's Redbird Arena. Crystal Lake Central beat Nazareth 13-25, 25-15, 25-13 to win the Grayslake Central Supersectional.
Wyman's performance followed on the heels of a big effort in JCA's 20-25, 26-24, 25-22 victory over Wheaton St. Francis on Thursday in a super-charged matchup played out in front of a sellout crowd. Like many of her teammates, she needed a few rallies to regain her footing once again.
The Angels were guilty of six service errors in the first game against Oak Forest (32-8) but managed to overcome them, at least in part because of Wyman's presence at the net. The Bengals were every bit as rattled as JCA, a factor that led to the Angels scoring their last seven points in Game 1 on errors by Oak Forest.
"I think it was a combination of both -- them and us," Oak Forest coach Amanda Brown said. "We got a little rattled on serve-receive early and had a hard time getting our offense going out of that. You know, they're big. I think our hitters were trying to do too much."
Once in the flow, Wyman set about doing her thing.
"I think we just started off sloppy in the beginning and we couldn't get a serve over," she said. "But when we did get our serves over, we scored a lot of points off them. We kept the lead and we won. So, that was good.
"I like playing in games where if you lose you're done. I like playing in those kinds of situations. It brings pressure on me. And I play better under pressure. I'm really competitive. I don't like to lose.
"When we play good teams, I know that I need to help. Whereas if we're playing a not-so-good team, if I make a mistake, I know Annemarie (Hickey) will get a kill. She'll pick me up. When we play good teams, I have to play well. I know every point matters. I should play that way all the time, though."
Hickey, the JCA senior co-captain playing in her hometown, had three kills in a relatively quiet performance. She spent more time traveling from Oswego to JCA to catch the Angels' team bus than she did on the court.
"Yeah, it's close to home, but no big deal," Hickey said. "Because I've always gone to school in Plainfield or Joliet. I've just lived in Oswego -- not really been around here very much."
"I don't feel so bad for her," JCA coach Christine Scheibe said, a grin crossing her face.
Alyssa Warren topped the Angels with 10 kills and 7 digs. Jenn Murphy dished out 21 assists. Stephanie Keca had 5 digs.
"I think we gave them a lot of points with our missed serves, and we were called in the net a couple of times," Scheibe said. "Those just are not characteristic errors that we normally make. But the girls played a solid a game. That's what you ask them to do. Errors don't get this team down.
"They are very good about moving on to the next point, not dwelling on a mistake. That's been our calling card all year long. I think they were playing with emotion today because they knew what was on the line, a trip downstate. But to match that level of intensity that we had the other night is very hard to do night after night after night with every game."
JCA suffered its only loss to Assumption (Ky.) in the championship match at the Asics Challenge in early October. The Angels are undefeated against teams from Illinois. They have been ranked No. 1 in the state from Day 1.
"We've had the expectations on us all year long," Scheibe said. "We've put the expectations on ourselves to get back down there and, you know, I don't think the girls are going to be satisfied until they finish what they started this season. We're just going to have play one game at time like we've done all year long.
"I've got tape on Crystal Lake Central. We'll go home and watch that and see what we can do against them."
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