Younger Mastandrea moves out on her own
Former Downers Grove South standout Anne Mastandrea flew a little under the radar the last couple years while serving as an assistant coach for her father, Peter, at Glenbard West. But now the one-time libero at Purdue University is back in the spotlight after taking over as the coach at Glenbard North this season.
"I coached there with my father the last three years, and it was probably the most fun in my coaching career," said Mastandrea, who helped a Hilltoppers program that went 102-13 over that span. "I went undercover. I worked with the girls but at times had to leave the gym to study."
Before completing her master's degree in education in May, Mastandrea had also coached at Western Carolina and served as the director of volleyball operations at Northwestern. Now she's hoping to build a Panthers program that always has its hands full with strong DuPage Valley Conference programs at Naperville North, Naperville Central, Wheaton North and Wheaton Warrenville South.
"I'm really excited about this season," she said. "We've got a lot of positive energy. Our conference is tough, but we're making progress every day."
Mastandrea is counting on big things this fall from senior leader Nicole Tobison, an athletic 6-foot-1 outside hitter, along with middle hitter Emily Krohn, outside hitter Stephanie Cole and "dynamite" setter Haley Wiser.
Picking right up:
Hinsdale Central senior outside hitter Lauren Fuller has picked up where she left off last season, picking up 81 kills already and helping the Red Devils open the season 5-1. She was just named to the all-tournament team at the Benet Invitational and was named the Max Preps/AVCA Player of the Week for this week.
Coach Kelly Moran is confident the team will make a big leap from last year's 11-19 record with returning starters libero Alex Davis, setter Brooke Istvan and middle blocker Claire Cornell all joining Fuller in the lineup. Cornell, a captain, also made the honor roll at Benet's invite last weekend.
Hinsdale Central newcomers outside Megan Irvin, Nikki Hilbrich and Regan Serway are fitting in quite well and Irvin, a co-captain, also made the all-tourney squad at Benet where the Red Devils reached the championship before falling to the host Redwings.
Ready for good things at Wheaton Academy:
Coach D.A. Nichols' Wheaton Academy program was a solid 26-10 last fall and opened the new season with an impressive win over Batavia.
Standout Sydney Vischer missed a lot of time last year due to injuries, but she was great in the three-game win over Batavia, serving well and recording 14 kills and 15 digs.
"She's a difference maker for us," Nichols said of the senior outside hitter. "We have a heavy senior-filled team, but not a lot of starting experience, but they are a great group that is working hard and wants to do well."
After finishing second to Montini in the Suburban Christian Conference in 2013, Wheaton Academy is now battling in the Metro Suburban Conference.
Fellow senior outside hitter Sam Krill teams with Vischer to power the attack. "Our outside hitters will carry a much bigger burden than in the past couple years. I do believe that our young middle blockers and setter will learn quickly and come on strong to make us a better balanced team as the year moves on."
In the win over the Bulldogs, Alecia Funk had 33 assists and Jess Bosse 19 digs for the Warriors, who open conference play next Wednesday when they travel to Riverside-Brookfield.