Crystal Lake South's Nolan a winner on, off court
Crystal Lake South senior Carly Nolan doesn't like losing.
On the volleyball court or off.
Fortunately, she has little experience with either.
“I can't remember one thing she hasn't gotten first place in,” said Nolan's best friend since preschool, CL South all-area setter Cassy Sivesind. “When we did track together she was faster than me. She could jump higher than me. It was like, 'I can't beat her, man.'
“She is so good at everything. Even random things, like she's amazing at drawing. And she has perfect handwriting. Everyone loves her. I don't know one person that doesn't like her. Even dogs love her. My dogs do.”
On the court, Nolan has been the dogged force behind Crystal Lake South's return to the top of the Fox Valley Conference's rugged Valley Division and the state's upper echelon.
The Gators finished 14-22 in 2011, when Nolan was a freshman playing with the varsity. As she grew more dominant, so did her teams. Over the past three seasons they've compiled a record of 95-12. A CL South program that hadn't won an FVC title since 2007 has now won 3 straight, punctuated by last year's fourth-place finish in Class 4A.
Seventh-year coach Jorie Fontana credits Nolan for much of the Gators' recent success.
“Carly has put this program back on the map, in my opinion,” Fontana said. “When teams talk about us they say, 'What's the difference? What's the key ingredient?' Carly is it usually.”
Entering Thursday's sectional semifinal against FVC Valley co-champion Cary-Grove, Nolan, who is committed to Cincinnati, led the Gators with 295 kills (. 215 hitting percentage). Years spent developing her all-around game have yielded 576 digs and a 2.26 passer rating, second best among CL South starters. She has recorded 61.5 blocks and 57 jump-serve aces.
For these quantitative reasons, along with her intangible leadership qualities, Carly Nolan, the 18-year-old daughter of Crystal Lake residents Mike and Mary Nolan, has been named the honorary captain of the 2014 Daily Herald Fox Valley All-Area girls volleyball team.
An outside hitter who stands 6-feet-tall, Nolan prides herself on being a cornerstone of CL South's volleyball resurgence.
“That was always a goal of mine,” said Nolan, who carries a 3.9 grade-point average. “I wanted to come out on top, make a name for ourselves just like the players did when I grew up watching them, like Hannah Burkle. Watching them go out there and win conference championships, right then I knew that's what I wanted to do, too.”
Nolan is one of those rare athletes able to excel in multiple sports due to a combination of natural athleticism and determination. She played soccer as a youth but began concentrating on volleyball in seventh grade, following in the footsteps of her mother, Mary (Loescher), a successful setter for Texas Tech.
Nolan teamed with Sivesind on the Lundahl Middle School squad in 2009. Soon thereafter she joined the Crystal Lake-based Sky High Volleyball club's 13-U team, coached by Sherry Harris. One of her teammates that year was CL South libero Tori Falbo, who has since spent six years witnessing Nolan's how'd-she-do-that? athleticism up close.
“Sometimes you don't think she'll be able to get a ball over and it's like a miracle some of the things that she can do,” Falbo said. “It's really impressive. It's definitely been a growing experience with her. She's a great player and it's been awesome to see her develop throughout the years”
Nolan entered CL South as a three-sport athlete in the fall of 2011. After playing varsity volleyball, she joined the basketball program and spent the season with the sophomore team.
Her natural athleticism was best displayed during track season that spring, when she won the FVC high jump title and missed qualifying for the state meet by an inch. The freshman phenom was named MVP of the varsity track team.
“That just goes to show you what she came in with athletically. There wasn't much we had to develop there at all,” said Fontana, who likewise was named honorary captain of the Daily Herald All-Area girls volleyball team when she played at Jacobs in 1999.
However, track season was tough on Nolan's legs, she said, because she was competing simultaneously in club volleyball. “I would go from track meets to volleyball to volleyball to track meets,” she said.
Thus, Nolan abandoned track to focus on club volleyball. However, she stuck with basketball as a sophomore and was named to the varsity team.
She went out for basketball again last year as a junior, but a back injury — a herniated disc Nolan says has since healed completely without needing surgery — ended her season after 4 games. Ultimately, it ended her basketball career. She decided to give up the sport in the wake of the injury, which sidelined her for nearly six months and forced her to miss half of the club volleyball season. She was cleared to return to action in May.
Nolan hasn't missed a beat this fall. She has been as lethal as ever, particularly in the big moments.
“In high-intensity situations she's usually my go-to and she usually puts it away,” Sivesind said. “She's like, 'I got you, Cassy.' She's someone I can lean on and depend on. It's a really good feeling to have. You definitely don't want her on the other side.”
On the other side of the net Thursday night was Cary-Grove coach Patty Langanis, who along with former assistant Ray Rugebregt (now at Vernon Hills), coached Nolan's 16-U club team two summers ago. Nolan counts them among her favorite coaches.
“They taught me so much about being a leader and stepping up as a teammate,” she said. “Ray definitely taught me a couple of tricks playing outside, like dropping my thumb and all the cut shots and line shots. (Langanis) taught me all the tricky stuff. My roll shot I learned from them.”
Admiration is a two-way street.
“When she plays the game she's the full package: mentally tough and physically strong,” Langanis said. “She has a lot of desire in her to win and be successful. When the pressure gets higher, she's the kind of player that rises to the top. She exemplifies what an athlete is. She encompasses it, in my opinion.”
Once Nolan's playing days end, she hopes to make a career in volleyball, a sport she says partly defines her.
“When people talk about me I'm known as the girl who plays volleyball, along with being this tall girl with curly hair,” she said. “It is part of me. I love the game. After I finish my career in volleyball, I hope to coach it or do something along the line of athletics at the college level.”
A college volleyball coach with a relentless will to win coupled with an engaging personality? Sounds like the players Nolan will someday coach will be winners, too.
On and off the court.