When rivals and powerhouses meet in the playoffs, the energy is bound to be off the walls.

This was on full display in the Chicago Public League Girls Volleyball city playoff semifinals between the Jones College Prep Eagles and Lane on Oct. 20. The Eagles ultimately edged out Lane to advance to the championship, winning in two sets, each 26-24.

After finishing the season third in the Chicago Public Super Conference, the Jones Eagles were the underdog in Wednesday night’s match against Lane, who finished second in the same conference.

To advance to quarterfinals, Lane triumphed in an intense quarterfinal game against the Payton Grizzlies earlier that week, on Mon., Oct. 18.

The game against the Grizzlies was the team’s final home game and naturally, energy from the crowd and the players emboldened the team as the future of the city playoffs loomed heavy above both teams’ heads.

After an intense match, Lane was able to seize the 2-0 victory (25-23, 25-15).

“I think just having the crowd here [led to our win] and we had a good turnout today,” said Kayla Stock, Div. 281, after the Payton game. “It was the last home game I’ll ever play in and it was just really exciting.”

The win over the Grizzlies surpassed initial expectations held by the team, who anticipated a three set game. Winning in only two sets, the team now had much needed confidence for the upcoming semifinals.

“[From] these last two games, if we win against Jones, I think that this momentum will continue,” Stock said.

But hopes to play the anticipated championship match against top-seeded Whitney Young withered Wednesday night in what was a game marked by intense rallies and excellent defense from both sides. 

Played at Northside, Jones looked to advance past an opponent that has continuously defeated them in recent years. Between two teams with nearly flawless rhythm and coordination, seizing a solid lead all came down to which team tallied the most mistakes. 

After deviating from the typical starting serving line during the course of the playoffs, Lane brought back starting server Alexx Torres for the first set. But Jones took the early lead on account of mistakes from Lane, such as attacks failing to cross the net.

Jones would hang on to their lead as the set progressed, keeping Lane on their toes. Lauren Minas and Simone McKenzie kept Lane’s receive game strong with quick feet and solid digs, making a great match against Jones’ own defense which saw an impenetrable back row and fantastic dynamic betweens setters and hitters. 

Lane came close to Jones on several occasions, but Jones inched away with a consistent lead that remained throughout the set. Although the ball would fly out of bounds or into the net — mistakes usually uncharacteristic of Lane’s liberos and hitters — the team had its fair share of powerful attacks that had Lane just several points short of the Eagles. Jones was not flawless either, having some low hits into the net, exchanging points until an out-of-bounds ball would give Jones the first set 26-24.

The second set was a similar tale. Although Lane seized the lead early, a strong serving run that had the ball pushed deep into Lane’s zone tipped the set towards Jones’ favor. Although the second set was also riddled with mistakes, Lane’s strong defense shined at the net. 

The score eventually balanced out at 13-13 with a lift by Jones, and Lane was able to momentarily take the lead for the first time all night with disconnected passing from Jones and a powerful hit from Lane’s Claire Andersen. Intense rallies came alive between the two teams, Lane coming out on top of Jones with an ace by Torres. 

But fatal errors — hitters sending the ball into the net — gave Jones just what they needed to break past the 25-point mark and take the second set, winning 26-24.

While Lane did not play their best game, their strengths shined on the court, coming alive in their hitting. 

“When we hit, we hit well,” Torres said. “When we connected, we connected well. And we were putting balls down. But towards the end when we needed those last few balls to close out when we most needed them, those connections weren’t happening. And that led to our loss.”

The team had also failed to capitalize on opportune moments that could’ve carried Lane to success, according to Coach Kwong.

“I don’t wanna say we choked because we played a really good fight,” said Torres. “But I think it boiled down to our miscommunications. And we made too many errors that could’ve been prevented.”

Despite the loss, Lane is looking forward to regionals. 

“We’re gonna take tomorrow off,” said Kwong. “Then we’re gonna refocus, practice hard Friday and Monday. We’ll get ready for regionals.”

Lane started their state playoff run as the six-seed in the regional semi-finals on Oct, 26, beating eleven-seed Oak Lawn Community at the 4A Marist Regional. They faced three-seed Marist in the regional final yesterday. 

Jones, after falling in the city championship match to Whitney, began their state playoffs as the seven-seed in the 4A Lyons Regional, beating nine-seed Riverside-Brookfield on Oct. 26. They faced two-seed Lyons yesterday. Lane and Jones are in the Mother McAuley Sectional.

Allegra Coleman contributed reporting for this story.