Girls volleyball: Willowbrook's future - and present - quite bright

York's first-year head coach Daniel Piwowarczyk seemed both impressed and happy for Willowbrook after the Warriors claimed the Class 4A volleyball title by sweeping his Dukes Thursday night in Villa Park, but admittedly he's worried that his foes may just be warming up.

Powered by a trio of freshmen and sophomores - including sisters Hannah Kenny and Calli Kenny - the Warriors prevailed 25-15, 25-16 and now will take their lofty 35-1 mark into Monday's Bartlett sectional where the top seeds will face Downers Grove North.

"Those Kenny sisters sure are something. We're going to deal with them for a long time it looks like," said Piwowarczyk, whose first campaign closes out at 15-22. "They don't make many mistakes. Their serve receive is really good, so it's hard to break them. There's a reason they've only lost one game."

Hannah Kenny, a freshman setter/opposite, had 8 kills, 7 assists and a pair of blocks, playing more like a veteran than a rookie competing in her first regional final. Calli Kenny, a sophomore, added 3 kills, 6 digs and 2 blocks of her own. Fellow sophomore starter Elle Brushuk had a team-high 4 blocks. But it was not all youngsters on Thursday, as senior outside hitter Kyla Ostrowski had 7 kills for the Warriors and senior setter Katie Linnig was sharp in recording 11 assists and 7 digs.

"It's definitely really fun. It's making history really, and doing it with seniors and everybody playing well and together," said Hannah Kenny. "It was super fun tonight. We all worked together and everybody did their part. Everybody just played good and we got it done."

Both the freshman Warrior and fourth-year player Ostrowski credited a loud home crowd with providing plenty of support on Thursday.

"It really is cool. And just having our whole student section here, just knowing that we did it feels really nice," Hannah Kenny said. "We're hoping to go far and get it done."

Ostrowski added, "It's going to be great in the upcoming years here. It's going to be crazy. But this was our No. 1 goal, to win regionals. It all came together tonight. It helped a lot that our energy was so high. It was great."

Willowbrook led 15-8 in the first set following a kill by Ostrowski, who closed out the opener after a great feed from Hannah Kenny with a winner to claim the set 25-15. The second set saw the hosts jump up 13-3 and coast to the sweep.

"It was a great team effort, with a lot of contributions," Warriors coach Irene Mason said. "We talked about that a lot after the Proviso West match, eliminating the unforced errors. We worked on that in practice and they responded real well."

Mason knows the program has a bright future the next couple years, but she also likes the special group that's accomplishing special things this fall.

"There's a lot of young talent which is great but also just the right amount of senior leadership sprinkled in there," Mason said. "Even with our young talent we have so many kids that have played a lot of high level volleyball. They put in all the work in the offseason. A lot of committed, hardworking girls and that helps."