Chicago is known for the Miracle Mile, Wrigley Field, the Sears Tower and, of course, the wind.

But as the Lone Peak volleyball team found out in late September, it's also a hub for great volleyball.

"The midwest plays some of the best volleyball in the country," said Knight head coach Deanna Meyer. "We were really excited to go because we've never seen it played at that level. We wanted to go for the growth experience and to watch volleyball at such a high level of performance."

Lone Peak -- which has one of the best teams in the state in 2007 -- competed in the Nike Chicago Tournament on Sept. 29-30 and ended up placing second in the Silver Division and 10th overall.

While the success turned out to be an added bonus, the team said the experience was what made the trip one to remember.

"It was a great team bonding experience for us," said senior outside hitter Lacey Cramer. "We got to know a lot more people and became more connected. We spent a lot more time together off the court and we have so much more chemistry on the court. We really learned to trust everyone else."

Meyer explained that she's been looking into taking the Knights out of state for awhile, but the right opportunity hadn't opened up.

"I feel like the program needed something to help it go to the next level," she said. "I did some inquiring and found out about a couple of the best tournaments in the country.

"We've tried to get to Las Vegas but never had a spot, so I called the host school for this tournament last spring and told them about the program. They called be back and invited us to come, which is exactly what we were looking for."

Meyer gave much of the credit for being able to make the journey to the outstanding parent support for the team.

"We have such great and supportive parents," she said. "They've really been willing to help out and make things happen for their kids."

Once the team got to Chicago, they faced some of the best teams in the country.

"I think it was good for us because we weren't just playing teams from Utah," said senior outside hitter Faith Tusieseina. "It raised the level of our game to have that knowledge and experience."

Meyer said that from the beginning, she knew the games would be extremely challenging but felt proud of how her girls rose to the occasion.

"They played and competed against nationally ranked teams, and beat some of them," she said. "These girls are great athletes that are able to make adjustments and improve, which is what they did at the tournament."

The players said they saw a number of things that are going to help them get immediately get better.

"It was really nice to see a lot of quick tempo in their offenses," said senior middle blocker Hillary Olson. "That's going to help me react quicker on the block. I know that I need to work harder and play smarter. It opened up another aspect of volleyball that I hadn't seen before."

While the individual and team improvement will be important on the volleyball court, the most common reference by the athletes was the great time they had together.

"It's definitely going to help our team unity," said senior setter Lacey Laycock. "It was really fun both on and off the court."

Senior libero Kylie Heaps said: "It was a blast because we played teams that were so good that it made us play better. Off the court was a different kind of fun just because we were doing things together.

Meyer said that the non-volleyball moment she's going to remember was deciding to go see the Broadway musical "Wicked" 30 minutes before it began.

"We go to see a city that a lot of the girls had never been to before," she said. "They had a number of experiences that they're never going to have again."

As well as they played and as much as they enjoyed the opportunity, the team understands that now they need to apply it to how they perform for the rest of the year.

"I'm excited to be taking our program to the next level," said senior defensive special Cari Shumway. "It will be good to see how we do now against some of the better competition in Utah."

That attitude is exactly what Meyer hopes to see from her deep and talented team as it finishes off regular-season play and heads to the 5A state tournament in November.

"There is a sense of determination," she said. "They have higher expectations for themselves and for their teammates."

• Jared Lloyd can be reached at jlloyd@heraldextra.com.