When Bria Lomax walked into Bartlett’s gym as a freshman, she noticed the banners for each sport that listed all of the accomplishments.
She noticed the banner for girls volleyball was bare. The Hawks put the first numbers on that board in 2020 by sharing the Upstate Eight Conference title.
Now, in October of her final high school season, the senior middle hitter is looking to add some more digits to that display.
“I think that’s the goal for our seniors,” Lomax said. “This is the last time we’ll be able to get another number for that banner. Conference, of course, is the first goal before we get more intense.
“That’s what we’re all focused on now.”
The play of Lomax gives Bartlett (17-8, 5-0) hope for bringing home some hardware. She leads the Hawks with 161 kills and 57 blocks.
“She’s just unbelievable,” Bartlett coach Bob Schwantz said. “She plays all six positions. I call her an assassin. She’s always out to get the win.
“She could play pretty much any position at the college level. She’s the captain, the reigning team MVP, soon to be four-year all-conference.”
Lomax credits her move to Sports Performance in club for unlocking the extra skills in her arsenal.
“They train you to play everything,” Lomax said. “I feel confident doing it as well. All the hours put into it, over time, it slowly starts to develop and then it clicked.
“It was like, ‘Oh, I can do that now.'”
While opposing teams try to figure out what Lomax is going to do next, the Hawks have their eyes trained on her movements as well.
“She’s one of those girls where when she’s front row, the entire team is mirroring her,” Schwantz said. “They’re bracing for what she’s going to do.
“If the set isn’t there, she’ll just tip it. She keeps teams honest.”
In the spring, while playing club, Lomax was contacted by NCAA Division II Findlay. It didn’t take long before she visited and was offered a scholarship. She accepted in June.
“It happened super quickly and it was kind of crazy,” Lomax said. “It was like a month and a half and I was like, ‘Yeah, I’ll come to your school.’
“I didn’t want a huge Division I school. I felt like that wasn’t where I wanted to be.”
Bartlett entered the week on a five-match winning streak, with a showdown looming next Tuesday at South Elgin.
The Storm, however, are playing without their star in Iowa recruit Alyssa Worden, who is close friends with Lomax. Worden is out for the season with a knee injury.
Still, that match has typicalled determined the conference champion over the past few seasons, so Lomax is excited about it.
“The next step is to beat South Elgin,” Lomax said. “We’re all looking forward to that match. Then the next step is regionals and getting ready to play bigger and better competition.”
Schwantz, meanwhile, knows Lomax and the Hawks don’t want to stop at just winning next Tuesday.
“She’s not just satisfied with the conference title,” Schwantz said. “She wants a regional title after the boys won it in the spring.”
After struggling at a tournament in West Chicago, the Hawks reached the finals at Hoffman Estates, only to lose to a Woodstock team they would later beat.
Schwantz points to the fact Bartlett took Wheaton Warrenville South to three games and hung with Class 2A power Genoa-Kingston as signs the Hawks could make a postseason run.
“I think with her, anything is possible,” Schwantz said of Lomax. “Having her is unbelievable.”
Paul Johnson is a freelance reporter for The Beacon-News.