Vernon Hills' Kiepura leads turnaround
It's her senior year at Dominican, and former Vernon Hills volleyball standout Kasey Kiepura is going out in style.
The year before Kiepura arrived at Dominican, the Stars did not win a match.
In Kiepura's freshman year in 2007, they had a 9-20 record. The next year the Stars were 16-15.
As a junior, Kiepura helped Dominican to a 21-13 record and tie for first place in the Northern Athletics Conference after losing a heartbreaking five-game match to Lakeland in the tournament.
This season, the Stars are 26-9 and they won the conference tournament Saturday with a 25-23, 25-19, 25-22 triumph over Benedictine as Kiepura chipped in with 8 kills for the champs.
The Stars also secured the program's first bid to the NCAA Division III Women's Volleyball Championship.
Women's tennis
Playing in the USTA/ITA National Intercollegiate Indoor Tennis Championships at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing, NY, Denise Muresean (Stevenson) of Michigan advanced to the Elite Eight.
Muresean, a senior, won her first-round match (7-5, 2-6, 6-4) over Mary Ann Macfarlane of Alabama and then defeated Connie Hsu of Pennsylvania (3-6, 6-3, 7-6).
In the Elite 8, she fell to eventual champion Maria Sanchez of USC (2-6, 2-6), who won tournament by defeating Jana Juricova of California (2-6, 7-5, 6-4).
Men's soccer
Sophomore defender Andy Lynch (Lake Zurich) notched his third goal of the season for Dominican when the Stars defeated Aurora 2-0 to win their fifth straight Northern Athletics Conference championship.
The Stars secured their ninth consecutive bid to the NCAA Division III tourney.
Lynch's goal, a knuckling shot from 25 yards out, came in the 37th minute,
Ÿ Washington & Jefferson College senior Chris Whiteman of Hawthorn Woods was named a Presidents' Athletic Conference “Player of the Week”.
Whiteman earned the PAC Defensive Player of the Week award after scoring one goal, his second of the season, and assisting on another in W&J's 6-0 victory over Thiel.
He also led a defensive unit that allowed 1 goal on a combined 11 shots in the Presidents' victories, including their sixth shutout of the season against Thiel.
Ÿ Marquette University senior defender Anthony Colaizzi (Warren) scored the game winning goal in MU's upset of St. John's University in the opening round of the Big East Conference tournament.
Women's volleyball
Southern Illinois senior Jennifer Berwanger (Lake Zurich) was part of a field of 12 student-athletes who were named to the 2010 ESPN Academic All-District V Women's Volleyball team selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA).
Berwanger, who earned First-Team honors and is now eligible for Academic All-American, carries a 3.89 GPA in therapeutic recreation. The senior outside hitter was named Academic All-District Second-Team last season, and was named to the Missouri Valley Conference Scholar-Athlete first team in 2008 and 2009. She is No. 4 all-time at SIU for matches played in a career, totaling 120 court appearances during her time as a Saluki, and has played in 112 consecutive matches.
Park District basketball
The Gurnee Park District's adult open basketball program, for those 30 years and up has begun its fall/winter session.
The program meets on Tuesday and Thursday at the Woodland Middle School in Gurnee from 6:45 p.m. to 9 p.m. The cost is $5 per night and can be paid at the gym. For the most up to date open gym schedules visit gurneeparkdistrict.com
Football
North Central College junior Peter Bulandr (Stevenson) have been selected to the 2010 ESPN College Division Academic All-District Teams, as selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA).
The CoSIDA Academic All-America program is designed to recognize student-athletes for combining academic and athletic success. In order to be eligible, nominees must have maintained a cumulative grade-point average of at least 3.30 (on a 4.00 scale) in addition to their athletic credentials, and must have completed at least one calendar year at their current institution.
Bulandr was selected to the All-District Second Team. Bulandr, one of five defensive linemen selected to the Second Team, is an economics major who has contributed 20 tackles, 4.5 tackles for loss and 2.5 quarterback sacks as a starting defensive tackle for the Cardinals. He was an Academic All-CCIW selection last season.
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