Can deep, talented Cary-Grove do it again?
Repeating as a state champion in Illinois girls volleyball is difficult but not impossible.
Since the Illinois High School Association instituted the girls volleyball state tournament in 1975, five public schools have repeated as state champions: Class AA Oak Park River-Forest (1978-79), Belleville West (1990-01) and Normal (1999-2000); Class 1A Lanark Eastland (2008-09); and Class 2A Freeburg (2008-09).
Private schools Mother McAuley (1980-81-82, 84-85, 94-95), St. Francis (1991-92, 2002-03-04) and Breese Mater Dei (1993-94-95) have also repeated.
Cary-Grove, the defending Class 4A state champion, hopes to become the sixth public school to win back-to-back titles.
It won't be easy to repeat in a state considered a volleyball hotbed, but the Trojans have the talent to contend once again. The question is whether this group of top-notch holdovers and talented up-and-comers, ranked No. 25 in the country by Prepvolleyball.com to start the season, can demonstrate the same drive and determination as last year's squad come playoff time.
"Talent-wise, this team is as good as last year's team or better," Cary-Gove coach Patty Langanis said, "but the intangibles we can't measure until we're in those difficult situations as the season rolls along. They have a very firm grip of the reality of how hard that's going to be and what they need to do, but the truth is that's what we feel can happen."
Four key starters return, led by senior outside hitter Kelly Lamberti (Ohio University). She was an unstoppable force throughout the state tournament, including the title match against Lyons in which she posted a match-high 12 kills in 15 attempts.
The Trojans graduated setter Abbey Heredia (Jacksonville State), but they have a top-flight replacement in senior Colleen Smith, who committed verbally to Indiana before her junior season. In the summer of 2009, Smith's club team won the open national title and she was named tournament MVP. She would have started as a freshman at Cary-Grove had Heredia not already been in the program, according to her coach.
"Colleen is an incredible kid who has waited for three years for her dream of being a varsity setter to come true," Langanis said. "When we put together our lineup for the first time she looked at me and smiled. She said she's ready for this. She's been waiting.
"Nothing's been easy for her. She's had to fight all along to get to this position. You can just see with her leadership skills how she's taking control of this team. She's filling Abbey's shoes very well at this point."
Senior libero Sam Mainzer (5-9) returns. After making the switch from outside hitter in the middle of last season, Mainzer notched 127 digs, including 11 digs in the memorable 4A semifinal comeback win against Glenbrook South.
Also back is junior middle blocker Ashley Rosch (6-0), who finished last season with 228 blocks and 117 kills. Rosch is being recruited by several schools and recently visited Indiana, Langanis said,
As for depth, the Cary-Grove program oozes it. Senior outside hitter Allison Whimpey never got on the court last year but has verbally committed to Tennessee-Martin. Same goes for junior hitter Melanie Jereb (6-0), who has drawn interest from multiple Big Ten schools and recently visited Colorado State. Her vertical reaches 10 feet, 1 inch, which is one inch higher than a regulation basketball rim.
Need more proof of Cary-Grove's depth? How many programs in Illinois have a pair of talented 6-foot-1 players like junior Sheila Wilhelmi and sophomore Mallory Wilczynski fighting for the backup middle blocker position?
"When you look at our height, we're bigger," said Langanis, whose team has been selected as the No. 1 squad in the preseason Daily Herald Top 20. "This will be the first time since I've been here we'll have 6-footers across the front line. Offensively, I think we have more firepower than last year's team.
"It's going to be the intangibles that last year's seniors brought with leadership and just that gutsy play, that willingness to never settle for anything but giving your best. That's where we're going to have to see where this team's going to measure up."