The Griffins' Maddie HyllaGLEN CARBON - Maddie Hylla, a junior libero for the Father McGivney Catholic girls volleyball team, has had a successful season thus far for the Griffins and did well in 25-18, 25-11 win over Centralia Christ Our Rock Lutheran on Sept. 27 at the McGivney gym.

For the season, Hylla has served up 55 points with 24 aces, five kills, 11 assists, and 222 digs for the Griffins in helping them to a 13-7 record going into the final month of the regular season.

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For her efforts, Hylla has been selected as a Byron Carlson Petri and Kalb Female Athlete of the Month for the Griffins.

Hylla, who plays for head coach Jake Williams, felt that the Griffins played well in their win over the Silver Stallions.

"It was an easy match, but like we still fought hard, so we made it quick and easy, I guess," she said in a post-game interview.

It was a big bounce-back win for McGivney after losing a two-set match at Marquette Catholic last Thursday, and the win gave the Griffins four wins in their last five matches.

"We lost against Marquette (in two sets) and this was our coming back game, I guess, and It made us feel better about our conference games," Hylla said.

And it was a Gateway Metro conference match, so that made it doubly important to be able to bounce back and win over COR.

"Yes, it was really important," Hylla said. "I was just excited we pulled through."

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The libero is the most important defensive position on a volleyball team and Hylla sees her role as a captain on the defensive side, making sure her teammates are where they're supposed to be when the other sides go on the offensive.

"I am a defensive captain, mostly," Hylla said. "I like to be everywhere on the court, like, anytime anyone needs me, I like to be there, everywhere."

Hylla feels that the Griffins are doing much better than last season, where McGivney finished 13-22 and was eliminated in the IHSA Class 1A regional by Valmeyer.

"I think we've been doing a lot better than last season, of course," Hylla said, "because we only had two seniors. But this year, we're doing much better, because we have a grander number, I guess. I think we're going to go farther this season, definitely."

Hylla is feeling very confident about the Griffins' chances in the upcoming Class 1A playoffs.

"I'm pretty confident, actually," Hylla said. "I think we'll go farther than we did last year because last year wasn't that good, but I'm confident about this year."

As far as the remainder of the regular season goes, Hylla is optimistic about her team's chances of winning the league title.

"We'll see; I don't really know yet," Hylla said with a laugh and smile. "Win conference, obviously. And then, from there, we'll go to regionals and then, hopefully, state."

Hylla and her teammates will take things one match at a time and move on from there. She's looking ahead to what may happen in the next few weeks for the Griffins.

"Postseason I'm super excited for," Hylla said. "We did lose one of our starting players (Aislin Hall), but I still think we'll be fine. We can definitely try without her."

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