Girls volleyball: Palatine's Kronberg captains Northwest all-area team

When it comes to music, Alyssa Kronberg is quite talented with her hands.

She can play the piano, guitar and has even taught herself the ukulele.

But the most important thing she does with her hands is get them in front of sizzling volleyballs trying to hit the floor.

Hands down, she is the finest libero in Palatine girls volleyball history.

"If there is a better libero in Illinois, I haven't seen her," said Palatine coach Dan Gavin. "Alyssa is where it all starts for us and she has been a model of consistency."

For her three-year varsity career, Kronberg has received over 1,400 balls and racked up 1,658 digs, a Palatine school record.

This season, she has received 470 balls at a staggering 2.42 pace while digging 576 balls, a single-season school record in the modern rally score era.

Kronberg will continue her career at the University of Memphis where she will study criminology (behavior analysis more than forensic science).

"Most people I tell I'm going to study criminology and they say I really don't see that from you at all," she said with a laugh.

But they've seen her do a lot of other things, including singing a crowd-pleasing rendition of the national anthem before the Pirates biggest conference match this fall.

The 5-foot-6 senior, named the Mid-Suburban West Player of the Year and now the captain of the Daily Herald's Northwest girls volleyball all-area team, takes it all in stride.

"Just doing my thing," is how she describes the countless number of times she has dug up opponent's attacks since she began playing the sport in sixth grade.

"I just go out there and have fun and hope it all works out in my favor. I love the sport. So anything that happens on the volleyball court is a good time."

Kronberg has helped make it a good time for the Pirates, who won the MSL West in her junior season and racked up 32 wins in her senior campaign.

"She's an amazing kid," Gavin said. "If the IHSA wants to change the rules and give fifth-year eligibility, she's welcome to stay."

Unfortunately for Palatine, she will be wearing the blue and gray for Memphis a year from now.

"From the moment I met the coaches and the team, I knew in my gut that Memphis would be a perfect fit for me," said Kronberg, an all-area libero last year who collected 536 digs. "I knew going into the college recruiting process that having coaches that I loved, and teammates that I could picture myself with, was very important. I am very lucky that I have both of those aspects at Memphis."

She may even try to join a chorus group if one exists on campus.

"I'll be looking for some kind of extracurricular activity," she said. "I've always liked visiting Nashville. I'm a big country music fan. If there's no chorus, no big deal. But I do like singing."

Kronberg began volleyball in the sixth grade.

"All of my friends at the time had started playing," she said. "Volleyball was just a leisure game at that point though, I didn't take the game seriously until freshman year."

College volleyball did not even enter Kronberg's mind until her sophomore year of high school when her club coach (Spencer Kaszuba) placed her on the top team at Rolling Thunder.

"He had an unbelievable amount of faith in me, and took a giant leap by placing me on the first team," Kornberg said. "He taught me not only how to be a great volleyball player, but also to be confident in myself and believe that I was capable of great things, which is why I look up to him so much."

When Gavin brought her up to the varsity as a sophomore, Kronberg's prep career took off.

"He's (Gavin) the reason I'm so confident," she said. "He really boosted my confidence because I didn't think I was capable of playing at that level then."

"It has been awesome being on coach (Dan) Gavin's varsity team the past three years," she said. "He has really helped me become a leader on the court."