College volleyball: Now at Ohio State, Fesl still in fine form

While playing her first three collegiate seasons at the University of North Florida, setter Annie Fesl accumulated 2,404 assists, 565 digs, 135 kills, 81 service aces and 45 blocks.

Hersey High School's all-time assists leader (2,568) is now finishing off her career at Ohio State, and still posting key statistics.

In a 23-25, 25-23, 25-21, and 25-21 over Northwestern, Fesl had 20 assists as the No. 24 Buckeyes won their third straight match.

She also had 27 assists and 10 digs in a five-set win over No. 10 Penn State in front of the fourth-largest crowd in school history (4,415).

The victory marked the 975th in program history (975-550; .639), including a 315-134 (.702) mark inside St. John Arena.

Kudos to Fremd

Enjoying one of its finest seasons in school history with its first Mid-Suburban League championship and regional title since 2009, Fremd's girls volleyball team has earned another award.

And it's much more important than wins and losses.

The members of ZONI (Zebras of Northern Illinois) gave congratulations to coach Curt Pinley and his team for an outstanding season and for exemplifying great sportsmanship during their matches.

The Vikings earned ZONI's Sportsmanship banner.

Women's basketball

Saint Louis junior guard Jackie Kemph (Rolling Meadows) was named the first Atlantic 10 Conference women's basketball 'Player of the Week' for this season by the A-10 office and by College Sports Madness.

It marks the fourth time in her career Kemph has earned the College Sports Madness award and the third time she has garnered the nod from the league office.

Kemph averaged 22.5 points, 9.0 assists, 3.0 rebounds and 2.0 steals to lead the Billikens to season-opening victories at UC Irvine and Loyola Marymount.

In a 79-69 win over UC Irvine, Kemph scored a game-high-tying 20 points on the strength of a career-high five 3-pointers (5-of-9). She registered a game-high 8 assists and added 2 rebounds and 2 steals.

Kemph played all 40 minutes and poured in a team-high 25 points in a 90-76 victory over Loyola Marymount. This time, however, the largest part of her scoring came at the foul line as she tied Saint Louis records for free throws made (15) and attempted (18). Kemph tallied a game-high 10 assists to complete her seventh career double-double, and she tacked on four rebounds and two steals.

For the week, Kemph shot 46.7 percent (7-of-15) from 3-point range and 84.2 percent (16-of-19) from the foul line. In addition, she committed just 4 turnovers and 3 fouls in 73 minutes.

• Playing her first game after missing the second half of last season with a knee injury, Carthage junior guard Morgan Harris (Hersey) made quite a comeback.

She poured home a career-high 38 points (second best on Carthage's all-time single-game scoring list) in an 81-77 loss to Loras. Harris' big game was second only to Cindy Czubakowski's 40 points vs. UW-Whitewater on December 10, 1983.

Harris came back and scored 19 points with a career-high 6 steals when Carthage began the Wisconsin Lutheran Classic with a 70 -61 win over Bethel (Minn.).

Lady Reds sophomore Monica Masini (Palatine) tied her career-high of 13 points in that game while freshman teammate Maggie Berigan (Hersey) led with 6 rebounds.

Harris netted 16 points and 8 rebounds in the Lady Reds' second game of the Classic and was named all-tournament.

Women's volleyball

Former Elk Grove standout Diamond Boyd, who began her Cornell career strictly as a basketball player (she scored 1,000 points as a Grenadier), has been named to the 2016 American Volleyball Coaches Association All-America Second Team.

Boyd, an explosive 5-foot-10 outside hitter, becomes the fourth individual to earn six All-America awards at Cornell since 2011.

"What a great honor for Diamond," said Cornell coach Jeff Meeker on the school's website. "She has worked very hard to become a more complete player and that certainly paid off this season. I am so happy for her.

"I am also incredibly proud of our entire team for helping Diamond earn this recognition. Our passing was outstanding all season. Our setters, Kat Devlin in particular, did an amazing job of distributing the ball this fall."

Boyd gave volleyball a try during her second year (2014-15) on campus and earned second team all-Midwest Conference honors.

She climbed to first team all-MWC status last season. This fall, she was voted MWC Player of the Year, First Team All-Midwest Region and among the top 28 players in the country.

Boyd broke the school record for kills per set in a season (4.30) and finished second on Cornell's list for total kills with 452. She averaged 4.56 points per set, good for fourth-best in school history.

She compiled a .293 attack percentage, 14 times hitting over .300 in a match. She posted double-digit kills in 15 consecutive matches to start the year, including a season-best 27 against No. 13 nationally-ranked Carthage and 26 against No. 18 Elmhurst.

Boyd averaged 1.11 digs per set and 0.32 blocks. She played in all 105 sets this season.

Through three seasons on the volleyball court, she ranks third on Cornell's career chart for kills per set (3.43), fourth in points per set (3.75), sixth in total kills (1,049), sixth in total points (1,147) and eighth in attack percentage (. 261).

She paced the Rams (22-7 overall, 9-0 MWC) to their fifth consecutive MWC regular-season title. The team had a 15-match winning streak end in the MWC Tournament Final.

• Former Stevenson all-area standout and Buffalo Grove resident Jenna Radtke, who helped the Patriots to a 34-4 record as a senior, didn't miss a beat when she advanced to the Division I collegiate level.'

The Northern Illinois senior was named player of the year in the Mid-American Conference.

Radtke, a middle blocker, started all 28 matches this season and appeared in all 104 sets.

She averaged 2.70 kills per set with a .384 hitting percentage while sharing the team lead in service aces at 33.

Defensively, she averaged 1.15 blocks per set, the best clip in the Mid-American Conference. She also registered 3.78 points per set.

In MAC matches, Radtke posted 1.34 blocks per set and 3.65 points per set.

She is the first NIU player since Shelby Snyder (1991-94) to be selected first team all-conference at least three times in a career. Radtke earned three MAC 'Defensive Player of the Week' honors and three MAC 'Offensive Player of the Week' awards, totaling six on the season.

Northern Illinois University finished the regular season 23-5 overall in 2016 with a 15-1 clip in conference to clinch a share of the Mid-American Conference Regular Season title, NIU's second in as many seasons and third championship since 2011. The Huskies' 15-1 record tied for the most wins in a MAC season in program history, last winning 15 conference contests in 2001.

Softball

Barrington senior outfielder Carly Kordich of Hoffman Estates has signed a letter of intent to play for Winona State University.

She was all-state in 2016 and has been an all-area selection the last three years.

Kordich has a career batting average of batting average of .384 with 99 runs and 57 stolen bases in her three seasons for coach Perry Peterson.

"The Winona State softball family looks forward to the addition of Carly Kordich," said Warriors coach Greg Jones. "Carly has the speed and leadership to make a major impact at the top of our lineup. She can play all three outfield positions and has passion for the game that fits the culture of Winona State Softball.

"This class (six signees) is full of great hitters. Carly is a part of that offensive presence, and her speed and on-base ability will be a key ingredient to our future success."

• Please email Sports Notes items to jleusch@dailyherald.com.