Girls volleyball: Terrell's focus leads to future at Arkansas State

Wheeling senior Timber Terrell began playing volleyball in the seventh grade because she liked the idea of falling on the floor and the general mentality that goes with the sport.

She never even thought about playing it in college.

But when you have that certain talent and drive, things can change.

And guess what?

Terrell became one of the top volleyball players in the northwest suburbs and will eventually head to Arkansas State to play Division I volleyball.

"It was my freshman year when coach K (Jason Kopkowski) put me on varsity," Terrell said.

"She was doing things as a freshman that some seniors couldn't even do," said Kopkowski, whose Wildcats are currently leading the Mid-Suburban East with a 5-0 record. "It's been fun. She has the build, the athleticism to play at the D-I level along with her work ethic and the countless hours she puts in."

Soon after starting high school volleyball Terrell was recruited to play club at the Sky High club in Crystal Lake and she realized she could have a career in the sport.

She began receiving letters from colleges after her 15-and-under year of AAU, and she didn't believe it.

But she believed in herself, kept working hard and finally chose Arkansas State.

"I liked the family environment in the program along with the team's very quick offense and its coaches who know when to have fun and when to not have fun," Terrell said. "As far as the school itself, it's the perfect size for me and has plenty of majors for me to choose from. It has the modern look going for it and is in a small city that has everything you need."

Terrell plans on majoring in athletic training to start a career as a physical therapist.

"Some of her extended family is between here and Arkansas so the school is a real good fit for her," Kopkowski said."She said she felt real comfortable with the coaching staff there and the players really embraced her."

Just like she has felt right at home at Wheeling.

"It is a true honor playing for Wheeling," she said. "Being known as an underdog and leading the division is a little bit surreal because every day we hear, "Oh it's just Wheeling'."

"I'd like to think this team is showing other Wheeling sport programs that we can be successful despite the nonbelief people have in us. The key is just playing - attitude, effort, confidence and mentality. It's very hard for a team to another stop a team with those characteristics."

Kusch into Hall of Fame

Former Conant and Harper basketball standout Heather Kusch Johnson was inducted into the Judson University Hall of Fame over the weekend.

Kusch, a 1996 graduate of Conant, was an all-area basketball selection.

At Harper, she was the first recruit of former women's basketball coach Jeff Jedd (also former Sacred Heart High School co-coach) and led the Hawks to a fourth-place NJCAA finish in the 1997-98 season. She was also an N4C all-conference selection and a NJCAA all-American.

Two years ago, she was selected for the NJCAA Region IV Hall of Fame.

At Judson, she was a member of the most accomplished team in school history that finished in the Elite 8 at the NAIA National Tournament in 1998-99.

She led that team with a 62 percent field goal percentage and 7.9 rebounds per game.

She played in all 34 games and was named NCCAA honorable mention all-American, CCAC first-team all-conference and NCCAA All-Region in both seasons at Judson.

Career-wise, Kusch is in the top 10 in numerous categories.

Most impressively, she ranks second all-time with a 59 percent field percentage.

She was introduced at the hall of fame banquet by longtime friend, teammate, and 2013 Hall of Famer Sheryl Jedd-Bianchin.

Palatine Hall of Fame

Athletes Jim Stauner and Jodi Forsberg-Waddington will be inducted into the Palatine High School Athletic Hall of Fame for their outstanding contributions.

The induction will take place at approximately 7 p.m. on the north end of Chic Anderson Stadium at Palatine High School prior to the varsity football game.

The inductees will be honored during a presentation before the national anthem.

It is also Homecoming and the games are against Fremd High School.

There will be a varsity soccer game at 4:45 p.m. prior to the varsity Football game at 7:30 p.m.

Women's golf

Bradley junior Ally Scaccia (Prospect) finished 11th in the Cardinal Classic at the par-72 Players Club in Yorktown, Ind., hosted by Ball State.

She was just 2 strokes out of the top 10 in 11th at 222 as she turned in her lowest 54-hole score since the 2015-16 season opener.

Her final round two-over 74 was the 47th career sub-80 round and moved her into eighth in school history in career rounds in the 70s or better.

Bradley carded a 298 for fifth place in the team standings as the Braves finished with their second-lowest 54-hole score (898) in program history.

Football

Plenty of local athletes played a part in Carthage College's 27-24 win over Augustana before a capacity crowd at Art Keller Field in Kenosha.

The win pushes Carthage to 3-1 on the season for the first time since 2011 and 1-1 in the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin.

The Vikings drop to 2-2 and 1-1 in the CCIW.

The win puts Carthage coach Mike Yeager in some elite Carthage College company as he becomes the first coach since Art Keller to win back-to-back games against Augustana, dating back to the 1970 and '71 seasons.

• Quarterback Ethan Olles (Palatine) threw a 12-yard pass to Jamahl Wright to put Carthage ahead 6-0 with 5:06 left in the opening quarter.

• On its biggest drive of the game, Javier Rhoades (Leyden) caught a 27-yard pass from Kyle Friberg which helped set up Carthage inside the Vikings' 10-yard line and led to the winning touchdown that made it 27-24.

• Greg Money (Fremd) made 5 solo tackles for the Red Men. In the secondary, Amani Dennis had 2 pass break-ups.

• Augustana senior Andrew Garcia (Leyden) caught passes of 13 and 21 yards on the Vikings' final possession of the game.

• Augustana freshman Bobby Jarosz (Prospect) scored on a 2-yard run for the Vikings' first touchdown.

• Augustana senior linebacker Jack Asquini (Buffalo Grove) had a game-high 11 tackles while safety Frank Kalble (Hersey) had 10 solo stops and a pair of forced fumbles.

Women's volleyball.

Carthage 6-foot senior middle blocker Rachel Mickey (Rolling Meadows) recorded 6 total blocks, including a match-high 5 assisted blocks to miss her season-high total by just 1 as the Lady Reds opened their College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin season with a four-set, 3-1, win over Augustana.

St. Viator Feeder

Tryouts for the St. Viator girls feeder program will be held Sunday, Oct. 2 in the Cahill Gymnasium.

Fifth and sixth graders are from noon to 1:30 p.m., seventh grade from 1:30 p.m. to 3 p.m. and eighth graders from 3 p.m. to ­4:30 p.m.

Athletes should arrive 15 minutes early. If you cannot make tryouts, but want to play, please contact Director Orrin Wolf (orrinw@gmail.com.

Early open gym sessions will be on Sundays (Oct 11, 18 and 25) from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. in the Cahill Gymnasium.

Conant Cheer Clinic

The Conant Co-Ed Cheerleading Program, which finished second in the state in 2014, is hoping to draw the local community athletes to its clinic run by coaches Amanda and Christina Schweinebraten. This clinic is open to kindergarten to eighth graders. For more information along with the online registration page go to www.tinyurl.com/cougarcheerclinic2016.

Registration and payment deadline is Oct. 12 with activities taking place that week including the varsity football game on Friday, Oct. 21 vs. Schaumburg.

Wheeling feeder

The Wheeling boys feeder basketball program will hold tryouts on Sunday, Oct. 30 and Sunday, Nov. 6. in the main gym of the high school.

Fifth and sixth gradres shoukd report from 8:30 a.m. to -10 a.m. and seventh and eighth graders will follow from 10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.

For questions, contact: juniorcats5678@gmail.com.

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