Warren senior setter Maddie Wojdyla understood the challenge she faced as she succeeded GabriElle Brewer this season.

Wojdyla was confident, however.

“I did not worry about my skills, my coach did not worry and, more importantly, my teammates were behind me,” she said. “Gabbie was a great player, and I learned a lot by playing with her. But it’s my time now to show what I can do.”

Being successful in that situation requires more than confidence, and Wojdyla is showing she has the talent and work ethic, as well, to succeed as the Blue Devils’ setter.

“I’ve been so fortunate to have coached Gabbie for the three seasons and then now this season with Maddie being our setter,” Warren coach Yun Chen said. “You can talk about so many different positive things about Maddie on and off the court, and they all would be true.”

Brewer, a freshman in the Division II program at Metropolitan State in Denver, recorded 2,029 assists during her career and was named all-state honorable mention last year.

Wojdyla, who has committed to play for the DII program at Central Missouri, has already piled up 344 assists this season while guiding Warren (15-6, 1-2) to one of the best records in the area. That includes a win against highly regarded North Suburban Conference rival Stevenson on Sept. 13.

“We beat them in two games a few weeks ago, and you could see it really gave our team a lift in confidence that we could play with anyone,” Wojdyla said.

The Blue Devils lost to conference leader Libertyville in straight sets on Sept. 6 but forced a third set in a rematch on Saturday.

“(Libertyville) is a really good team, but we think we are pretty good, too, so who knows what could happen if we meet again,” Wojdyla said.

She knows she has pretty good players around her. Most prominent are outside hitters Ruth Ziegler, a 6-foot-3 senior who has committed to Illinois State, and Lauren Schilz, 6-foot junior.

But Wojdyla understands that getting middles such as seniors Maggie Carruthers and Sarah Cretors involved in the offense will make the Blue Devils a more dangerous team.

“Ruth gets a lot of attention from our opponents because she’s so good, so we have to be able to move the ball around to make our offense more unpredictable,” Wojdyla said. “I think it surprises some teams that we have so many hitters that can step up and get the job done.”

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The Blue Devils’ success this season will make it difficult for them to pull off many more surprises, which is fine with Chen as long as his team continues to raise the level of its game.

“Even losing a player like Gabbie, we could tell over the summer and in preseason practice that this team still had the ability to be something special,” Chen said. “And a lot of that was the confidence we had in Maddie to lead this team as our setter.”

Wojdyla missed her sophomore season with a broken ankle and got limited action as a junior. But she was able to draw the attention of college programs while playing club volleyball for Sky High. She committed to Central Missouri in the spring.

“Once I visited the school, I knew it was going to be the place for me,” she said.

Before she goes, Wojdyla wants to help the Blue Devils make a run in the postseason.

“The seniors on the team really don’t want to be eliminated early in the playoffs,” she said. “It’s been such a fun season so far. We don’t want it to end.”

Darren Day is a freelance reporter for the News-Sun.