There’s a new No. 1 atop the girls water polo rankings

Following up last week’s item about Naperville Central’s high-profile girls water polo tournament, the Redhawks became the first girls or boys varsity team from Naperville to beat vaunted Fenwick with a 5-4, triple-overtime victory in the championship game on Saturday.

The Redhawks girls, who started playing Fenwick in 2005, are 1-9 against the Friars, including a 15-5 loss in the 2009 state championship match. Entering the match ranked second in state, with Saturday’s result Naperville Central traded that for Fenwick’s No. 1.

Abbey Kerth’s second goal, a no-look backhand from 6 meters out with 48 seconds left in sudden death off a Gracie May assist — was the game-winner. Naperville Central goaltender Julia Campbell made 24 saves, including a stop of a 5-meter, fourth-quarter penalty shot.

Heading into overtime Naperville Central won the coin flip to decide which end to defend, deep or shallow. Campbell, named illpolo.com’s girls player of the week, chose the deep end rather than the shallow, where she could stand on the bottom of the pool and defend the net.

Coach Jeff Plackett wondered why. He had no qualms later.

“I told Campbell I will never doubt her again,” he said.

Net clubs

Though Jake Blackman stood only 6-foot-2 as an outside hitter for Neuqua Valley and was admittedly “not quite good enough,” Division I Rutgers thought he was and offered him a scholarship. Several Division III programs wanted him to play for them, as well.

Blackman declined.

“I asked people I knew who played Division I in college,” he said. “They liked it, but it just kind of took over their life, took away the normal college experience.”

Now a senior at the University of Indiana, Blackman has his cake and eats it, too. Playing for Indiana’s men’s club volleyball team he continues to compete at a high level while bound only to two weekly practices and a sporadic tournament schedule while attending to studies and enjoying the college life — which given the Hoosiers’ success in the NCAA basketball tournament is pretty exciting right now.

Set to graduate in May with a telecommunications degree specializing in video production, Blackman called the club level “very high, really fast,” above intermurals but not quite Division I.

“Obviously there’s not that high-caliber player, but it’s not far below,” said Blackman, whose teammates include St. Francis graduates Thomas Culligan and Mark Roberts. “There are a lot of players who play in this club league who had Division I offers and chose not to. It’s a very high level of play, and I think we could give many Division I teams a run for their money.”

Indiana and 24 other college club men’s teams, including all but Penn State and Nebraska from the Big Ten as well as 2011 national champion Wisconsin-Oshkosh and smaller schools such as Grand Valley state, Lakeland and Baldwin-Wallace, will congregate in DeKalb this weekend for the Midwest Intercollegiate Volleyball Association Championships at the Northern Illinois University Student Recreation Center.

Illinois comes in hot from its Big Ten Championship win of March 10. The Illini defeated the Hoosiers, who roared back with four straight wins after losing to Minnesota in the opening match.

Indiana has two teams, an “A” and a “B” team. Illinois has three levels, and its top “Blue” team lists local graduates Matt Wilkins (Wheaton Warrenville South), Ray Birtcher (Naperville North), Mike Segneri (St. Francis) and Kevin O’Halloran and Patrick Soukup (Downers Grove South). Blackman’s Neuqua pal, Rob Bauer, is on the club team at Notre Dame, which won another high-profile Midwestern tournament, the Hoosier-Illini Classic on Feb. 18-19 in Champaign.

“I know a bunch of people from the other teams,” said Blackman, whose Hoosiers were third nationally in 2011. The National Collegiate Volleyball Federation Championships will be held April 5-7 in Kansas City.

After he graduates, Blackman figures on moving to Chicago and slamming the ball at North Avenue Beach like his brother, Ryan, a mechanical engineer who played for Wisconsin’s club team and talked up the benefits of the club scene.

“I would say it’s the best decision I’ve made in my life,” Jake said. “These are the guys I’ve hung out with all four years of my college career, these are the best friends I have. This whole volleyball thing has helped me out through my whole college career.”

Leader of the pack

Called down to the principal’s office, Katie Guth feared the worst.

Hearing her list of high school activities — badminton, cross country, dance line, several leadership positions — she helps freshmen acclimate to high school in the “Hornet 101” program — it’s hard to imagine this particular student breaking the rules.

Still, when she heard Principal Dr. Brian Waterman wanted to see her, “I thought I was in trouble.”

To the contrary. She’d actually been accepted to the Illinois High School Association’s Student Advisory Committee, which has 22 students representing the 21 IHSA districts statewide.

Guth, a junior selected to the committee a year ago last March, will represent District 7 until she graduates in 2013.

“I was very surprised,” Guth said after a recent library session working on a French class project. “It is kind of an honor to be recognized for it, but I wasn’t really expecting it. But it was awesome when I got it.”

Hinsdale South badminton coach John Charters nominated her for the position.

“She’s an achiever, she gets things done,” said Charters, who led the Hornets to state titles in 2005 and 2006.

“She represents what the IHSA was looking for in that Student Advisory Committee,” he said. “Katie is not afraid to speak her voice. She understands her position, her role within a team-type setting, but she definitely still stands out. She’s someone who just gets it, understands the big picture and how life works.”

As part of Hinsdale South’s Peer Leadership Network one of her tasks is the aforementioned helping incoming freshmen transition to high school. Another is sponsorship of the annual Giving Tree gift collection for needy families around Christmas.

She’s also a member of Hinsdale South’s Athletes Committed to Excellence, which among other things assists in Special Olympics and food drives and hosts the Mr. Hinsdale South competition that raises funds for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.

So far Guth has met twice at IHSA headquarters in Bloomington with the Student Advisory Committee, in April and September 2011 when they composed a Captains Handbook. The handbook was used as a focus for the Sept. 26 leadership conference hosted by the Advisory Committee at the Peoria Civic Center. They return to Bloomington this April.

“We’re probably going to go over things we’re going to change (in the handbook). I believe we’re going to do it over because it was a big hit,” Guth said.

She went from playing backyard badminton with her father, French émigré Michel, to “falling in love” with the Hornets program. She’s in her third year in the program and first year on varsity, mainly playing doubles with teammate Jess Sanchez. After last season, Guth earned the Hornets junior varsity sportsmanship award. Naturally.

Initially Guth felt a little out of sorts at the Leadership Conference. That didn’t last long.

“I was nervous at first but then it was like, ‘Oh, this is just like Hornet 101,’” she said.

doberhelman@dailyherald.com