ELGIN, Oct. 28 - Mooseheart's volleyball team rode a bit of a roller-coaster in the final week of the season - but can at least say they got to stay on the ride a little longer each time they got strapped in and took off for more loops and other thrills.

The Ramblers' season ended on Wednesday an hour after they extended their stay in the IHSA Class 1A Westminster Christian Regional. Mooseheart opened play at 6 p.m. by defeating Kirkland-Hiawatha 25-16, 25-17. The Ramblers then squared off at 7 p.m. with Hinckley-Big Rock, the No. 1 seed in the regional and fell 25-15, 25-11.

"It's been kind of up and down and kind of working hard to get to where we are now," Mooseheart senior Kristen Thornburg said.

After a regular season that had some frustrating moments, the Ramblers (4-13) finished with a flourish. They went 2-2 in the inaugural Northeastern Athletic Conference tournament and placed seventh. Then they had their 1-1 performance in the IHSA tournament, a performance in part created by the efforts in the NAC meet, which were capped by the honoring of junior Santana Sanchez with a first-team All-Conference selection.

"We played as a team," Thornburg said. "We learned how to work together really well."

Wednesday's action began well enough as the Ramblers raced to a big early lead in the first game against Kirkland-Hiawatha. Importantly, the Ramblers then closed the match in two games, something they were unable to do in 2008, when they won a first-round match before falling to Hinckley-Big Rock.

"They gained confidence from the conference tournament and it carried through into the practices this week and they were ready to play," Mooseheart coach Kristin Shuman said. "They came on the court and they were ready to go and they played awesome."

Even though the match with Hinckley-Big Rock quickly got out of the Ramblers' hands, there was still a lack of "quit" in Mooseheart's performance.

"They're ranked no. 1 in our regional and they're ranked 1 for a reason," Shuman said. "They have height and it's hard when you don't have that. I called a timeout late in the second game and I said 'I don't care if we win or lose, I want you to play as a team and finish strong-especially for our seniors who are leaving.'"

One of those seniors, Thornburg, walked off smiling, though she admitted to not feeling so great as her career was over.

"I think that even though we lost, we are walking away happy and proud of how we played and how our season ended," Thornburg said.

Mooseheart had a young squad this year. Thornburg and Jamesetta Mator were the only seniors. The ending was tough for Thornburg.

"I'm definitely upset because this is the last volleyball game I will play in my high school career," Thornburg said. "But I think, all in all, it ended OK."

		Mooseheart junior Sidney Whorton (left) gets up to block at the net in her team's victory over Kirkland-Hiawatha.
		Mooseheart coach Kristin Shuman shouts encouragement to her team in their play at the Westminster Christian Regional. The Ramblers won their first match and lost their second