Grayslake Central clinches share of NLCC with girls volleyball win over Wauconda

In the famous Irish Blessing, there is a line that says, "may the wind be always at your back."

At one end of the Wauconda gym Tuesday night, there was a giant circular fan blowing toward the team's volleyball match, which felt like a positive sign for the Bulldogs. But after losing 2 straight sets to Grayslake Central, it was clear that the luck of the Irish was not with them, losing in straight sets to the Rams.

Wauconda did have a lead at one point.

After the national anthem was played over the loudspeaker and the starting lineups were announced, the first serve went up and, after a pretty good rally, the ball landed on Grayslake Central's side.

Wauconda 1, Grayslake Central 0.

The hosting Bulldogs played from behind for the remainder of the night.

"We had a game plan to beat them," said Wauconda head coach Rebecca Muff. "We watched a lot of film, and we just didn't execute."

"They keep their middle open, so we were trying to hit middle. We weren't trying to hit balls really hard out of bounds, we were trying to be more strategic and have a little finesse."

As for Grayslake Central, their game plan was a bit more simple.

"Our motto is to always outwork," said Rams head coach Arian Colton. "Just outwork everybody. Stay really focused on what (your) job is, and just let it happen."

After losing the first point of the night, Grayslake Central rattled off 9 points in a row and ultimately won the first set 25-11.

It was a must-win for Grayslake Central, as they came into Tuesday night's matchup tied for first in the Northern Lake County Conference with Lakes. Both teams were 5-1 in the conference going into the night, and with one conference game remaining for Lakes, Grayslake Central has now clinched at least a share of the conference title.

In the second set, the Bulldogs started to make some noise, getting the score as close as 18-17. Unfortunately for Wauconda, they just couldn't get over the rainbow to the pot of gold, and lost the second set 25-20.

One brighter note for Wauconda's night, however, was the dedication of the game to Mr. Barry, a retired teacher and former co-chair at Wauconda who is now an "unofficial athletic director here," according to Muff.

"He's at every game," she said. "He comes to soccer, football, baseball, volleyball. He hasn't missed a match for us."

"The seniors, it meant a lot to them. I know Delaney (Lemay) and Morgan (Jacobs) really wanted to make sure that this night was really special for him, but I think just in general, they just wanted to get a win for him."