Chargers take advantage of good fortune to close out regional semifinal, create matchup with Raiders

By Shane Hulsey, Sports Writer | October 30, 2024
The Illini West volleyball players react to a serve from AJ Cook, left, trickling over the net for a point in the second set against Knoxville in Tuesday's Class 2A Warsaw Regional semifinal in Warsaw, Ill. | Shane Hulsey photo

WARSAW, Ill. — As AJ Cook’s serve took what seemed like an eternity to creep over the net, the Illini West volleyball team held its collective breath. “I was just praying that it would hit,” Cook said. Cook was tasked with a pivotal serve in the second set of Tuesday’s Class 2A Warsaw Regional semifinal…

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‘OK, this is where we’re at right now’: Chargers’ Johnson relishes first game as head coach

By Shane Hulsey, Sports Writer | August 28, 2024
Illini West volleyball coach Sawyer Johnson talks to her team during a break in the action Tuesday night in the season-opening match against Camp Point Central in Carthage, Ill. | Shane Hulsey photo

CARTHAGE, Ill. — The moment hit Sawyer Johnson as soon as she stepped into the gymnasium at Illini West High School on Tuesday. She was about to coach her first-ever high school volleyball game. “It was crazy,” Johnson said. “Stepping into that varsity game, seeing everybody and seeing the girls, it was like ‘OK, this…

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