South Elgin outside hitter Jessa Pentecost may be a senior, but she’s still learning on the job.
The 5-foot-8 Pentecost, who only began playing club volleyball as a sophomore, has toggled between playing the middle and on the outside throughout her budding career.
“I didn’t start club until my sophomore year, so I didn’t even get the proper training for my arm swing,” Pentecost said. “Coach (Jesse Bossenga) is helping me get my elbow higher, so I’m just focusing on swinging deep. It was successful. I work on hitting to the deep corners.”
Now on the outside, Pentecost is starting to put it all together. She was a critical part of the Storm’s 25-23, 23-25, 25-22 Upstate Eight Conference win Tuesday over rival Bartlett.
Pentecost led South Elgin (5-5, 2-0) with eight kills, many coming in critical moments of the match. Brianna Decheva added seven kills and two aces. Paige Genke had six kills and Nicole Biedrzycki served four aces.
Ashlyn Lomax paced Bartlett (8-6, 0-1) with nine kills. Sam Buss tallied seven kills and Danielle Whiteside had four. Western Illinois recruit Martyna Sowiak had three kills, two blocks and an ace.
Bossenga knows that Pentecost is still settling into her role, so he was happy to see her come through so many times in such an emotionally charged match.
“Jessa played really well,” Bossenga said. “She really took a lot of big swings. We got the ball up to her in big moments and she wasn’t afraid to take the swing.
“If she can keep doing that for the rest of the year, she’s going to have a lot of success.”
Bossenga also knows that Pentecost needs a little more teaching despite her age. Bossenga saw that pay off against Bartlett, a trend he hopes continues as the season goes on.
“We’ve been working on it in practice, just being comfortable,” Bossenga said. “She’s kind of getting used to that spot. It’s just getting comfortable out there and knowing, ‘I’ve got this ball, I can take this swing.’”
South Elgin rallied from an 18-13 deficit to win the first game. In the second, Pentecost had a block and a kill to start a surge that gave the Storm a 23-22 lead. Bartlett, however, scored the last three points, the final one coming on a block by Sowiak, to force a third game.
Bartlett led 13-9 in the third game, but South Elgin rallied and pulled away late to take the match.
“It was so fun,” Pentecost said. “I wanted to win so badly. This is the main team we wanted to beat, so this gives us confidence going forward. We know we can play at a high level.
“When we work together, good things happen.”
Bartlett coach Bob Schwantz was left wondering what might have been if his team’s serve receive was more dependable Tuesday. South Elgin served nine aces and kept the Hawks out of system.
“I felt like we were a little too hyped,” Schwantz said. “It’s a rivalry match. At the end of the day, it’s a bunch of kids. The pressure, the crowd was amazing. I think if we were at home things go differently. We just got a little nervous. But home court advantage, that’s why it’s a thing.”
For South Elgin, a diverse and balanced offensive attack is starting to take form as the Storm approaches midseason. Picking up a win against a team in their sectional doesn’t hurt, either.
“That’s a huge win for us,” Bossenga said. “That’s a great conference win, so that puts us in a good position there. To be able to say that we’ve beaten them is definitely a good thing.
“And it’s Bartlett. That always feels good.”
Paul Johnson is a freelance reporter for The Beacon-News.
