Waukegan outside hitter Mia Carani could be a little hard on herself in the past.
“I wanted to do so well that I would get mad and frustrated that things wouldn’t go my way,” Carani said. “I would try to lean on other, older players, including my sister (Niolis), for advice.”
In her fourth varsity season, Carani is one of the older players now, and younger teammates go to her.
“It has really come full circle for Mia,” Waukegan coach Brennan Pomroy said. “You can see the maturity in her now, and it really shows in her play and leadership. She’s been steady for us.”
Carani had seven kills for the Bulldogs in a hard-fought 28-26, 28-26 nonconference loss to visiting Antioch on Monday.
Waukegan (4-5) faced early deficits in both sets but didn’t fold up the tent against the Sequoits (4-10).
“That’s what I like about this team,” Carani said. “We’ve been down before in games, but we don’t give up. It’s fun when we know we will try to pick each other up.”
More Top Picks Turntables
She said camaraderie is one reason the Bulldogs stick together through adversity. Freshman Hadassah Brown, sophomore Katherine Rivas and senior Emoni Moore are among the key players.
“This is definitely the closest we have been as a team since I’ve been playing here,” Carani said. “Even with the different ages on this team from freshmen to seniors, we all get along, and we all pull for each other.”
Carani, who also plays softball for Waukegan, has worked hard to improve her all-around game. Her solid back-row play was evident throughout the match against Antioch.
“For my club team, I usually play in the middle, but I have moved to the outside this season,” she said. “I also spent a lot of time playing beach volleyball this summer to try to help my vertical jump and movement.”
Carani, who has drawn interest from several college programs, recently committed to play both volleyball and softball at Milwaukee Area Technical College.
“Mia really deserves all the success in the world,” Pomroy said. “She’s been such a great person to coach, and she’s a real leader on this team.”
Junior outside hitter Nora Larson was Antioch’s standout player on Monday with a match-high 15 kills.
“Nora has really been getting the job done for us,” Antioch coach Greg Bruns said. “Waukegan is a scrappy team that did not give up, so we really had to work for this one.”
Victories were hard to come by for the Sequoits during the Lakes Invitational over the weekend.
“We finished 1-4, but it seemed like we were in every match, so it was nice to get over the hump and pull this one out,” Bruns said.
Carani said she hopes the Bulldogs can continue to make strides this season and surpass the seven wins they had in fall 2021.
“That’s a goal for us for sure, but we just want to be the best team we can be,” she said.
Pomroy agreed.
“When we started the season 4-1, it took everyone by surprise around the school, I think, because that’s the best we have started since I have been here,” he said. “Now if we lose a match, everyone says, ‘What went wrong?’ So that is a great change in attitude for our program.”
Darren Day is a freelance reporter for the News-Sun.