Seeing double

Every coach expects to have a few challenges dealing with his or her players every season.

But Rolling Meadows coach Janet Opels received one this fall she hasn't experienced in her 20-plus years of coaching high school girls volleyball.

Opels has three sets of twins on her roster.

"I've never even had two, let alone three," she said with a smile. "I am just finally starting to tell them apart. It's tough. Sometimes, I'll be like 'Oh man, I can't get her name right.' "

For the record, the names are Ryan (seniors Quinn and Casey), Lekas (seniors Christine and Nicole) and Rosinski (juniors Samantha and Jackie).

Quinn (right side hitter) and Casey (middle hitter) Ryan are the tallest at 5-feet-10. Jackie (middle hitter) and Samantha (outside hitter) Rosinski are in the 5-8 range. Nicole and Christine Lekas (liberos) are 5-2.

"All three sets of the twins are very close as far as sisters go," Opels said. "Usually sisters are close but these guys are incredibly close. Even when they pepper, if they have a choice, they'll practice with their twin. They're all like best friends. It's really neat to see."

Meadows fans have seen four of the sisters start at one time or another this fall.

Jackie Rosinski and the Ryans made the list of the top blockers in the Mid-Suburban League through the halfway point of the season.

Opels said Jackie Rosinski is probably the most athletic player on the team.

"Jackie has the most power of any girl we have," the coach said. "It's just a matter of getting her consistently connecting with the setter. Casey has come a long way. She is getting very consistent with her power and making good strides defensively."

Opels has made strides learning to identify her twins but she says it still can be difficult, especially when they are on two different sides of the court.

"They do have their little differences you can see if you're up close to them," she said. "But from far away, it's hard. I'm like, 'stand together!' "

Assistant coach Dominic DiSilvio did provide a helping hand to make things a bit easier for Opels.

"Last year he gave them T-shirts to wear that said on their back 'Not Casey' and 'Not Quinn,'" Opels said "So they wear them a lot at practice and that helps me a lot."

Making the whole situation more difficult is that all the twins are newcomers to the varsity this fall.

Opels never had any of the girls in gym class and said it never really crossed her mind that all three sets could be on the varsity this fall at once.

"Obviously they've played in our program the last three of four years," she said. "But I've never coached them on my team until this year. Had I been seeing them in practice every day the last few years, it may have been different by now.

"It's been a unique experience. It's been fun to see them all grow."

Opels said all three sets of twins plan to go to the same college as their sister.

"They're three distinct sets of twins," Opels said. "They all vary in heights, looks and personalities. I often wonder what other coaches say when one comes in and another goes out. I'll bet it gets confusing.

"For their teammates, they've been playing with them for four years so they now know who is who. It's not that big a deal. The other girls will try to help me when I need it. It's funny. I'll be looking right at one right in front of me and I'll know the name, but I still say 'Oh, which one is that?'

"I feel like an idiot sometimes because no matter how hard I try, I still sometimes still can't tell them apart when they're not right next to each other."

But Opels is just taking it as a fun challenge this fall.

"Even though our record might not show it, as a team we've been making great strides individually," Opels said. "So I see that as a positive. And with the twins, it's really been neat. They're all good students and good kids. It's been fun."

More twin talk: About six years ago, Peggy Scholten's twin daughters Carly (outside hitter) and Kim (setter) were All-Area volleyball players for Elk Grove.

Now, for the first time in her 32 seasons as the Conant coach, Scholten has a pair of twins playing for her team.

Senior Tricia Kutrumanes sets the offense while her sister Georgie is an outside hitter. "They really have a great connection together," said Scholten, who watched several of her own twins' matches when they played for Elk Grove.

Friendly rivals: Hersey setter Shelly Mueller plays for the Rolling Thunder volleyball club as do some Conant players.

"Shelly set for Mandy Larsen, Katherine Hozian and Kelsey Paulson of Conant so it was a real fun match for Shelly to play against them (for the MSL championship last Wednesday)," said Hersey coach Nancy Lill.

Mueller, the MSL East Player of the Year, was the only player on the floor who started in the match for four straight years.

History lesson: Seven-time league champion Hersey played in the first Mid-Suburban League title match held in 1973 when as the North Division champ the Huskies lost to South champ Schaumburg. The Huskies have gone on to play in 15, more than anyone in the league. Next closest is Barrington with 11 and Palatine with eight. Arlington (closed in 1984) was the first North champ in 1972 and Prospect the first South champ that year but there was no title match.