Players on the floor and on the Glenbard East bench had a little more pep in their step Wednesday night.

That energy was reflected in their play as the Rams won their fifth straight regional championship with a 25-18, 25-21 sweep of York in Lombard.

The title is just one more step toward the team’s ultimate goal of making it to state, and the emotional spike comes as a welcome site heading into Friday’s sectional semifinal match against Downers Grove South.

“I was glad to see that we came with a lot of energy,” Rams coach Marci Maier said. “We won yesterday (Tuesday against Willowbrook) but I didn’t feel like we played well yesterday. So I was very happy to see our intensity was up, our energy was up today and we played well today. I was happy to see the energy back up as we get ready for Friday.”

The Rams pulled out the victory despite not being at full strength. Starting libero Mark Kunberger and senior Greg Liput, a server, were both out because of sickness. Other players, though, stepped right in to keep the regional title streak alive.

“It’s a great feeling,” senior setter/hitter Mark Jones said. “We’re obviously going to celebrate tonight. It’s one more step to state so we’ve got to just keep chipping away.”

The road gets a little more bumpy Friday as the Rams face Downers Grove South, which knocked off St. Francis in three sets Wednesday. Rival Wheaton Warrenville South and Hinsdale Central are in the other semifinal match.

“Friday its more, ‘So just bring it,’” Jones said. “You can’t come with anything less because it might be your last game.”

The Rams jumped out to a quick 10-4 lead in the first set against York and an ace by Andrew Achenbaugh extended it to 15-8. York trimmed it to 15-12, but a block kill by Jones pushed it back to 17-12 and the Dukes got no closer.

In the second set, the team’s traded points to a 14-14 tie before the Rams took control. Jones served three straight points for a 17-14 lead and Peter Wingard later added three more points to go ahead 22-17.

The Rams beat Willowbrook 25-19, 25-16 in the semifinals on Tuesday. Leaders for the Warriors were Tyler Klaassen (five kills), Billy Iacono (four kills) Ken Schmidt (six blocks), Joe Hass (three blocks) and Justin Paggao (eight assists).