This weekend the 18s Illini West team had one to remember!
At the beginning of our three day battle we started at rank #31 and and took second in our pool which put us in a great spot for day two. In day twos pool we were 4th in our pool and finished second after beating #5 and #23 allowing us access to the gold bracket. We were now ranked #13. At this point I could not be more proud of my team going into day 3.
We were first set against #4 who had not lost a game yet. After a long three set battle, we came out on top and put us in the final 8. We then had to face a team from Vegas who beat the only team we didn’t beat from day 2. After another long 3 set battle we unbelievably made it to the final 4! My girls were so excited but so tired.
After yet another long 3 sets my girls fell and end up in third place of 72 teams. My words, along with tears was: “heads high you did the unthinkable this weekend and I couldn’t be more proud as a coach.” Something I always have to remind my girls is that I only have 3 actual 18 year olds on my team with 5 seventeens and a 16 year old.
This will be a very memorable MEQ because they pushed through the adversity. I am so proud of my girls, they had so much determination and dedication for success this weekend and they achieved it.
