Powerful West Chicago has busy schedule ahead
Under normal circumstances, a Monday holiday could be considered the high point of this school week.
Not in West Chicago.
The second-ranked Wildcats volleyball team begins a busy week tonight, hosting West Aurora in a big DuPage Valley Conference match. Two nights later West Chicago travels to Wheaton Warrenville South. The week reaches its crescendo over the weekend, when West Chicago plays at the 24-team Autumnfest Tournament at Glenbard East as the No. 4 seed.
But first things first.
Tonight West Chicago (21-0, 10-0), with Cary-Grove the only unbeaten teams in the Daily Herald rankings, can clinch a share of the DVC championship.
“Definitely our goal is to stay focused on the DVC matches, West Chicago coach Kris Hasty said. “West Aurora is hot right now. We can't look ahead; we need to take it one day at a time.
Indeed, led by Wisconsin-bound sophomore Lauren Carlini, West Aurora (18-8, 7-3) comes in tied with Naperville Central and Naperville North for second in the DVC standings. Tonight's match will pit a pair of Big Ten recruits, West Chicago led by junior outside Julia Conard.
Autumnfest, though, almost certainly promises to be West Chicago's biggest test to date. The top three seeds are Mother McAuley, Benet (20-6) and Joliet Catholic (23-4), who beat Benet to win the Mizuno Cup last weekend.
The following weekend West Chicago plays at the Downers Grove North Invite in another tough field with the likes of Hinsdale Central and the host Trojans.
Both tournaments should ge good playoff tuneups for West Chicago, awarded the top seed in the Bartlett sectional last week.
“We're looking forward to Autumnfest to see how we stack up against teams we don't often see during the season, Hasty said. “It should be a good warmup for the postseason. At that point we are going to be challenged without a doubt. We have to be certain that we've been in tough situations before.
Red Devils are back: Sheralynn Kellough was searching for answers. It was Sept. 18 and Kellough's Hinsdale Central Red Devils had lost three straight matches at the Wheaton Classic and didn't look good doing it. A team that was 33-6 a year ago and returned its core was 8-7 and looked lost.The next day, a Sunday, Kellough went to the high school and took all the rankings and accolades out of the display case. In its place she put camouflage, army figures and a written promise: #8220;the old Dale shall return.Kellough met with the team as a whole, and then each individual player.#8220;We just said this isn't acceptable for Hinsdale Central volleyball, Kellough said. #8220;This is Hindale Central volleyball 10 years ago. Ten years ago I would have accepted a .500 record but not anymore. The bar has been set. That is not the expectation, especially with the personnel we have.The girls responded. Hinsdale Central immediately ripped off a nine-match winning streak, highlighted by a win over Joliet Catholic last Monday. The Red Devils' streak was snapped by JCA in the Mizuno Cup semifinals, but the team came right back to whip St. Charles East for third place.Once again Hinsdale Central (18-8) looks like a team poised to go on a long playoff run.#8220;Maybe we needed that kick in the butt to realize that we have to work for it, Kellough said. #8220;That intangible piece that was missing, we found it and started to click. It was an attitude change and a heart change, realizing how important it is for the girls to have a successful season.College plans: Hinsdale Central senior outside Natalia Skiba texted Kellough days ago that she has committed to play volleyball at Northeastern University. Teammate Jamie Netisingha committed to Cincinnati last year. Red Devils junior Ally Davis plans to visit Michigan this weekend.Huskies middles emerging: A bout of mononucleosis cost Naperville North senior Emily Koch the first 4-5 weeks of the season. She's making up for lost time.Koch and fellow senior middle Madison Murphy combined for 18 kills in a win over Wheaton Warrenville South last Thursday. They continued their strong play at the Mizuno Cup over the weekend.#8220;That's something I'm really excited about, Huskies coach Jennifer Urban said. #8220;Koch recently moved into the starting lineup and is coming on strong. Madison was on last year's team but didn't get much playing time. The last two weeks she's been gaining more confidence and getting more attempts.Urban credits setter Sarah Romberg for getting the middles more involved. The Huskies need that offense with senior outside Sarah Haselhorst still out with a broken finger.#8220;Setting the middles is one of Sarah's strong points, Urban said. #8220;She's been working her butt off to create a more balanced attack. In order for us to have success we need to set our middles effectively.