Six straight from DuPage

The streak continues. DuPage County has produced at least one girls volleyball state champion for six straight years:

Downers Grove South in Class AA in 2002, St. Francis in Class A from 2002-04, Naperville Central in Class AA in 2005, St. Francis in Class AA in 2006 and now Naperville Central in Class 4A this year.

Smartly played: As the only person who played on Naperville Central's 2005 and 2007 state title teams, junior Emily McGee compared both clubs. She said this year's Redhawks were more balanced offensively and both teams were strong defensively, but she wouldn't say which club was the best.

"I can't do that," McGee said. "I still talk to all the girls from then so I'd like to keep all my friends."

To play or not to play? St. Francis senior libero Catherine Culligan decided to play basketball on the day before tryouts.

"It was a really hard decision," she said.

An all-area player in volleyball and basketball, Culligan plans to play volleyball in college as she continues to search for a school. She had to decide whether to play for the Sports Performance Volleyball Club and not play basketball, or play for the First Alliance club so she could play basketball for St. Francis.

"Since I'm playing volleyball in college, I really want to focus on volleyball," Culligan said, "but I love basketball too much to quit it."

Representin':ŒOn the road to state, Naperville Central coach Brie Isaacson told her players they were not only playing for themselves but also the teams in the area that were good enough to be at Redbird Arena.

"I told the girls in the supersectional we were playing for ourselves because we've worked hard, but we were also playing to represent where we've come from," Isaacson said. "We were playing for Downers South and for Naperville North and for Benet in the hope that maybe the IHSA really will see how strong volleyball is where we are and that maybe they will make a change. It's a hope, and I don't know if it goes beyond that, but..."

For the record: Thirteen of the 16 matches played at state this weekend were sweeps.

An assist: After directing St. Francis to second place in Class 3A, Peg Kopec has a career coaching record of 961-219-2 in 33 seasons at the school.

Kopec said she's good at fostering the program's traditions but still gets nervous about the volleyball details. That's where her assistants over the years, such as current coach Lisa Ston, come in.

"I get good help," she said. "I've gotten good people over the years and they fill in where I'm weak. Lisa Ston is one of the best people in the world. She is a phenomenal person and phenomenal coach. She's so good with age groups. She's good with everybody. She's so well-respected and well-liked."

"Redemption Song": Naperville Central senior Rebecca Heath appreciated every point that she was on the court for this weekend.

When the Redhawks won the state championship in 2005, Heath was sidelined for the season by a stress fracture in her back.

"That, for me as a player, was probably one of the hardest things to do -- watch," she said. "So this year is kind of like my redemption year. This is when I get that chance again, and so this is a big time for me. I'm really just excited to have this opportunity."

Switching chairs: Downers North athletic director Denise Kavanaugh handled the color commentary for the TV broadcast of the Class 3A and 4A championship matches.

"It just ended up being lucky that I stopped coaching and was able to do it," said Kavanaugh, who coached Downers South to Class AA state titles in 1996, 1999 and 2002. "It's fun. I know a lot of the kids. You kind of know what's important so that helps when I'm in the (TV) chair to know what coaches would like the kids to do."

A 1986 graduate of Illinois State, Kavanaugh was back on campus doing her homework, interviewing winning coaches and players to get background information for the broadcast.

So what's easier, coaching or announcing?

"Announcing," she said with a smile.

Trophy talk: Now with the Final Four teams coming to state in the new four-class system, all 16 teams that played this weekend at Redbird Arena took home a trophy. In the past only half of the Elite Eight teams that played at state in the old two-class system used to bring home hardware.

"Now that problem is no longer here," Kopec said. "Everyone who came down here knew they were going to get a trophy. That's kind of a nice thing."