Katarzynski, Warner settle right in
Mary Kate Katarzynski and Carly Warner have played all of a baker’s dozen of matches with their new teams.
Where would West Chicago and St. Francis be without these new ingredients?
Katarzynski and Warner are both proving to be versatile, valuable setters for two teams off to fast starts.
Katarzynski, whose older sister Kayla is a junior libero for West Chicago, transferred in from St. Francis for this, her sophomore year. She is running a 6-2 with returning setter Payton Bayless for the Wildcats, who are 13-0 after winning the Bartlett Invite championship last weekend.
“Mary Kate has been a great addition — sometimes I forget that she’s a sophomore,” West Chicago coach Kris Hasty said. “She comes in with poise and confidence and is a fierce competitor.”
Katarzynski, standing 5-foot-9, can also hit. Her addition allows Bayless the opportunity to hit as well. The Wildcats are halfway to their 26-0 start of a year ago, but the unblemished beginning gets a big test tonight at Naperville North.
“We’re still trying to come into our own,” Hasty said. “We can look fantastic and then we see kinks we need to iron out.”
Warner sat out last year after transferring to St. Francis from Naperville North, but was able to practice with the team last fall. The athletic setter is also running a 6-2 with McKenna Kelsay. Warner, committed to Cincinnati, was named to the all-tournament team last weekend at Effingham, where St. Francis took second to Class 4A power Edwardsville.
“She is an outstanding athlete,” Spartans coach Peg Kopec said. “We need Carly to hit. She has become very deceptive where she hits it on the opponent’s court.”
St. Francis, 11-1 after its narrow three-set loss to Edwardsville, faces a rugged week ahead. The Spartans hosted Chicago Christian Monday, play at Rosary tonight and them welcome in Mother McAuley Thursday.
“A light week in Spartan-land,” joked Kopec, adding in all seriousness, “our September is very tough.”
Showdown in the Silver:There is no sense overstating the importance of a match in mid-September #8212; especially for teams with state title aspirations.But tonight undoubtedly means a little extra to York.The top-ranked Dukes (10-2) travel to LaGrange for a key West Suburban Silver Conference match with Lyons Township. This one means more than conference bragging rights. Lyons handed York three of its six losses last season, the third one in the Class 4A state semifinals en route to the Lions winning the 4A title.The Lions continued to own the upper hand in the rivalry 10 days ago, beating York 25-19, 25-12 at the Lyons Quad.#147;We played very flat. We#146;re all disappointed in how we did,#148; said Dukes coach Patty Iverson, calling that match#146;s second set York#146;s worst of the season. #147;We#146;ll see how we play the second time around.#148;Iverson said her team#146;s blocking was completely off that match, and in the ragged second set the Dukes made service errors and got out of position defensively. One could chalk it up to fatigue. The Dukes played 11 matches over the season#146;s first 12 days.York has played one match since Labor Day, though, and that was against Proviso West. A good dose of practice time and weightroom work should have the Dukes ready to go for Round 2.#147;One of our goals is to win conference,#148; Iverson said. #147;This isn#146;t just about LT; it#146;s a conference match. You need to find out where your weaknesses are. It#146;s probably a good time to find that out and go back to the drawing board to work on what needs improving. Our objective is not to be a great team now. We want to be very good by the end of the year.#148;Senior Aces: Four players from DuPage County schools were named to Prepvolleyball.com#146;s #147;Senior Aces,#148; the top 100 best volleyball recruits in the senior class. Those included No. 14 Meghan Haggerty of Benet (committed to Wisconsin), No. 52 Ally Davis of Hinsdale Central (Michigan), No. 80 Katie Gallagher of York (Iowa State) and No. 93 Jenna Jendryk of Benet (Virginia Tech).Just missing the 100 were St. Francis#146; Carly Warner (Cincinnati), Benet#146;s Gabby Pethokoukis (Villanova), West Chicago#146;s Julia Conard (Illinois) and York#146;s Caroline Rose (Western Michigan). Just missing the #147;Senior Aces#148; were York#146;s Sam Schrenker (Army), St. Francis#146; Daiva Wise (Toledo) and Downers Grove North#146;s Jessie Tulacka (Bradley).