Coming off the bench, Waubonsie Valley’s Chloe Gollaher was called upon in a key situation.
At the same time, Gollaher definitely could hear the singing coming from the student section as she was thrust into action Thursday night against Metea Valley, one of the area’s top teams.
It was her 17th birthday, after all.
“That was so fun,” Gollaher said. “It was like, ‘Thank you, but …’”
Gollaher had some work to do on the court, celebrating her birthday in style. She tallied seven kills in the third game as the Warriors pulled off a 14-25, 25-19, 25-20 DuPage Valley Conference win.
Northern Illinois recruit Naomi Dowd paced Waubonsie (11-10, 3-3) with nine kills. Asia Mitchell added 15 digs and Kathryn Travis served four aces.
Olivia Stewart and Addison Torain led Metea (22-7, 5-1) with eight kills apiece. Maddie Hopkins provided seven kills and three aces. Katie Schuele served five aces. Ashley Ward had five kills.
After Metea dominated the first game and Waubonsie rallied in the second to force a third game, Waubonsie coach Kari Galen made a lineup change. She plugged in Gollaher to provide a spark.
“When we’re making decisions on who to put on the court, we have a really strong bench,” Galen said. “We feel really confident with anyone we put out there. If we’re having a tough time, we’re going to make a change and see what happens. We were having a tough time.”
Galen loves how Gollaher, a junior outside hitter, mentally prepares herself for those opportunities, which is what gave Galen the confidence to make the change.
“She has great shots,” Galen said. “On the bench, she’s always watching and paying attention. So we know when she goes out there she’s going to know what she needs to do to be successful.”
For her part, Gollaher just tries to remain prepared whenever her number is called.
“I’m always ready to go in and play my hardest,” she said. “On the bench, I try to picture if I was in the game what shots I would do, like what’s open on the court, and try to keep a positive mindset.”
Waubonsie led 10-8 in the third game. Gollaher came in, but Metea was starting to get back into it.
Gollaher’s kill forced a side out, and that started her roll. She delivered a pair of kills to push the lead to 15-9. With a 20-15 lead, Gollaher put down three straight kills to push Metea to the brink.
The conversation between her and Galen was pretty straightforward.
“She was just like, you’re going in next, and I was like, OK, sounds good,” Gollaher said. “I mentally prepared myself to go in and play hard.
“It felt so good to play as a team and know that all of us have each other’s backs. It feels so good to have all the energy and play hard with people that you love.”
Earlier in the day, Metea Valley earned the third seed in the Class 4A West Aurora Sectional. The loss to Waubonsie Valley reminded the Mustangs how fickle the season can be.
“That’s why we play these matches,” Metea coach Dave Macdonald said. “They’re a good team. They played well. They made less errors than we did. They executed.
“We got on our heels a little bit at times and didn’t play the type of volleyball that we’ve been accustomed to playing all season long.”
For Waubonsie, the ninth seed in the Class 4A Bolingbrook Sectional, the win showed the Warriors that anything is possible in the coming weeks.
“I think it brings momentum for the next games, especially to finish out conference and going into the playoffs,” Gollaher said. “I think it brings good momentum. We know our teammates have our back, and we have the energy, and we know we can do it.”
Paul Johnson is a freelance reporter for The Beacon-News.
