West Aurora grad Carlini garners Big Ten accolades

West Aurora graduate Lauren Carlini's collegiate volleyball career hit another high spot recently.

Carlini, a 6-1 junior setter at Wisconsin, was named the Big Ten Conference setter of the year. Carlini tallied the most setting assists among Big Ten players during conference play (11.99 per set).

It was Carlini's second Big Ten Conference setter of the year award and fourth Big Ten individual award after being named conference freshman of the year in 2013 and player of the year in 2014.

Carlini was a unanimous all-Big Ten Conference first-team selection this season.

Through Monday, Carlini was averaging 11.9 assists per set and 2.7 digs per set.

Carlini and Wisconsin compete in the NCAA regionals for a third year in a row Friday when they face No. 11 seed Florida in Austin, Texas. Wisconsin is the No. 6 seed. If Wisconsin wins Friday it will play Saturday against either No. 3 Texas or No. 14 UCLA for a right to play in the NCAA semifinals in Omaha, Neb., next week.

Rosch at Illinois State: Cary-Grove product Ashley Rosch capped off her collegiate volleyball career by being named to the all-Missouri Valley Conference first team.

Rosch, a 6-0 senior outside hitter, became the first Illinois State University player to earn all-MVC first-team honors all four years of her career. She is one of only five players in the history of the league to accomplish the feat.

Additionally Rosch was named to the American Volleyball Coaches Association all-region honorable mention team for the second year in a row.

Rosch led Illinois State in kills and points in each of her four years in Normal. This season she averaged 3.86 kills (459 kills) per set and had a team-high 522 points, both which ranked third-best in the conference. She was twice named the MVC's offensive player of the week this season. She was named to three all-tournament teams and was named MVP in two. Rosch was Illinois State's lone representative on the MVC championship all-tournament team.

Rosch was part of an Illinois State team that went 22-10 and had the No. 5 seed in the Missouri Valley Conference tournament.

Rosch set new career highs in points (31.5) and kills (27) this season and climbed many of Illinois State's career records list. She holds the program record for attempts (4,914) and ranks third in career kills (1.609), fourth in career points (1,821) and seventh in career digs (1,272).

Shiltz cited for academic excellence: St. Charles North graduate Matt Shiltz recently was named to the Pioneer Football League all-academic first team. Shiltz is a senior accounting major at Butler University who amassed a 3.93 grade-point average through his first three seasons at Butler. It is the second consecutive season Shiltz has been recognized on the al-academic team and has been a member of the PFL academic honor roll all four seasons.

Shiltz returned from an injury-shortened 2014 season and ranked among the nation's top 10 in total offense (fifth, 304.7 yards per game) and points responsible for (sixth, 186). He threw for 2,713 yards (15th in FCS) and 19 touchdowns (21st in FCS) to help Butler finish fourth in the regular-season. Shiltz was a second-team all-PFL selection this season.

Illinois men's gymnastics update: The Illinois men's gymnastics team has added six gymnasts to the program for the 2016-2017 season including Bartlett High School student-athlete Michael Paradise.

Paradise, who works out of Premier Gymnastics, is a 6-time junior Olympics national championships qualifier. At the most recent event, he secured a second-place finish on the pommel horse after claiming the event title at the 2014 event. Additionally, Paradise has claimed the pommel horse title at the 2015 Windy City invitational, 2014 Houston national invitational and 2014 Region 5 championships. He plans on majoring in civil engineering at Illinois.

In talking about Paradise and fellow recruit Luke Cooper, Illinois coach Justin Spring noted: "Luke and Michael are solid competitors in many events, but these two guys will be a huge 1-2 punch for us on pommel horse. Both have all-American potential on this event."

Batavia girls volleyball alums update: A number of Batavia girls volleyball alumni were active this season on the women's college circuit.

Class of 2012 product Stephanie Kinane wrapped up her senior season at Loyola-Chicago. Earlier this season, Kinane broke the program's career digs record. Kinane was part of a Loyola team that went 20-12 (most wins since 2004) and qualified to play in the Missouri Valley Conference tournament for the first time in program history. Kinane finished the year with 424 digs in 111 sets (3.82 per set).

Kinane's teammate Mary Nilles also concluded her senior season at Marquette. Kinane had 116 assists and 64 digs in 52 sets played for a Marquette team that went 22-12 and advanced to the NCAA tournament for the fourth time during Kinane's tenure in Milwaukee. Marquette lost to Minnesota in the second round of the tournament - the third time in program history the Golden Eagles made it that far in the NCAAs.

Maddie Jaudon, a 2015 graduate, was a starter at libero for Elon University. In the final week of play, Jaudon recorded a career-high 29 digs in a match. She finished the season with 415 digs in 108 sets (3.84 per set).

Jaudon's Batavia classmate Anna Clausen started for Illinois Wesleyan in the NCAA Division III tournament. She started on the right side and played in both matches as Wesleyan advanced to the second round after winning an NCAA match for the first time in program history. This season Clausen played in 18 matches (33 sets) and had 9 kills and 11 total blocks.

Locals named all-conference: A pair of local graduates appear on the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin men's soccer all-conference team. West Aurora alum Matt Koth, a senior forward at North Central College, earned all-conference honors after scoring 4 goals (2 game-winners) and recording one assist. He helped North Central reach the CCIW championship game.

St. Charles East grad Tyler Robbins, a freshman forward at Wheaton College, also was named to the team thanks to a 2015 season where he had 4 goals and 4 assists. He helped Wheaton to a 15-4-3 overall record.

Barry named to newcomer team: St. Charles East grad Brannon Barry was named to the Missouri Valley Football Conference newcomer football team on defense. Barry is a 6-4 freshman tight end-defensive end at Illinois State University.

Lally earns weekly honor: Marmion graduate T.J. Lally, a senior linebacker on the South Dakota State football team, recently was cited as a Missouri Valley Football Conference player of the week. During the award time frame, Lally recorded a season-high 17 tackles and added a fumble recovery and 2 pass breakups in the team's 30-24 double-overtime loss at Western Illinois. It was Lally's 52nd start in a row and he registered double digits in tackles for the 12th time in his career.

Scianna named Fox Valley Eagles coach: Former Larkin football coach Mike Scianna recently was named the head coach of the Fox Valley Eagles semipro football team that plays in the Iron Athlete Football League.

Scianna brings more than 30 years of coaching experience to the position. In addition to Larkin, Scianna has coached at Huntley, Rolling Meadows, Hersey, Montini, Streamwood and Glenbard North as well as serving as wide receivers coach/special teams coordinator at Benedictine University.

"I look forward to energizing and inspiring our athletes, coaches, parents and community," said Scianna. "With the knowledge and skills I have gained through playing, 23 years of coaching and recruiting within high-level programs, I am confident my skills are of value and transferable to meet the goals and mission of the Eagles."

Mike Miazga can be reached at mjm890@gmail.com.