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player ready...This is only the fourth year of playing volleyball for her school, but Lincoln-Way East’s Claire Connolly already has a couple of state championships.
After getting cut in sixth grade, she was on Hickory Creek’s seventh-grade team in 2024 and eighth-grade team in 2025. Both won Illinois Elementary School Association state titles.
Connolly is used to making it far in the postseason. And after playing on the junior varsity as a freshman, she has high hopes this year for the Griffins.
“I’m hoping we can go far,” she said. “We’re a pretty solid team. We have our strengths that we can go far.”
The 5-foot-11 Connolly showed her strength Thursday night. The sophomore middle hitter had six kills, three blocks and an ace for Lincoln-Way East in a 25-23, 25-20 SouthWest Suburban Conference win over host Lincoln-Way Central in New Lenox.
That came after an eight-kill, five-block performance for Connolly in Tuesday’s 21-25, 31-29, 25-15 loss to Lockport to open conference play.
“We just had to shake it off,” Connolly said the Lockport setback. “We were focused in practice and we were talking and bonding and ignoring the loss.”
Illinois recruit Kolby Ross continued to do Kolby Ross things Thursday. The junior outside hitter smashed down 14 kills and added two blocks for Lincoln-Way East (12-5, 1-1). Morgan Sazama and Chloe Prainito each had five kills.
Mya Donnelly came through with seven kills for Lincoln-Way Central (14-8, 1-1), while Ella Thompson added five to go with a pair of blocks.
Connolly’s volleyball career, meanwhile, almost didn’t happen. She was fond of playing soccer through fifth grade and might still be playing that sport if fate hadn’t intervened.
“My soccer team kind of fell apart with players leaving and I tried volleyball,” she said.
While she couldn’t make the seventh-grade team in sixth grade at Hickory Creek, she got her shot the next season.
“I was disappointed with getting cut but it challenged me to work harder,” she said.
With a team that also featured super Marist setter Haven Enselman, Connolly was able to fit in with the Tigers, who brought home a pair of state titles.
“My teammates knew I wanted to challenge myself every day and they helped me do that,” Connolly said. “They challenged me a lot and they made me get better.”
Connolly, who confirmed she’s constantly being challenged on the varsity, has been passing every test along the way.
“She’s special,” Ross said of Connolly. “She’s just such a big ball of energy. She always wants to have fun out there. Even if she makes a mistake, she’s like, ‘I got it, I got it.’
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“She just brings everybody up. I love that girl.”
Lincoln-Way East coach Sean Burns likes what he has been seeing out of Connolly.
“It has been a good week for her,” Burns said. “She is definitely someone we can trust in the middle to put the ball away. When she is connecting with the setter, she is getting good swings in. If the sets are not connecting, she finds a way to get a kill with a tip.
“She’s young, but she’s becoming a better blocker. She’s starting to read the sets a little bit better. We’re excited because we have her the rest of the year and two more years.”
Heading into the match against Lincoln-Way Central, Connolly was second on the team with 69 kills and a .285 hitting percentage. She was second in blocks with 15.
So far, Connolly is happy with the way her career has turned out after switching sports.
“I love all of the friends I made,” she said. “And I love the team experience.”
Jeff Vorva is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.