Buffalo Grove grad Sommers enjoying a good fall at Trinity

The setter for Harper College's national championship team two years has helped her Trinity International women's volleyball team get off to a solid start this season.

Senior Katelyn Sommers, a Buffalo Grove graduate, had 36 assists in a three-set win against the College of St. Louis Pharmacy and then came back with 45 assists and 15 digs in a five-set loss to William Penn.

Three days later, she recorded 28 assists in a three- set win against previously-undefeated Cardinal Stritch.

That lifted the Trojans to a 9-6 record and tied for second in their half of the conference.

"I am excited to be part of the week to week improvement we are having," said Sommers, the Trojans' 5-foot-10 captain. "I hope this helps us reach the end-of-season conference tournament for the first time in many years. Coach (Luke) Ward and his assistant coaches have helped this team play together and believe in ourselves."

Sommers was the Trojans' MVP last fall. In addition to leading the team in assists, she also set a school record for assist percentage in a single season.

Women's volleyball

• Purdue Fort Wayne junior Elizabeth Fuerst, a four-year starter for Hersey and the 2015 Daily Herald Cook County all-area honorary captain, has helped her Division I Mastadon's get off to 7-4 start with big wins over DePaul and UConn at the DePaul Invitational.

Fuerst has been named all-tournament twice this season (Fort Wayne Invitational and Kent State's Golden Flashes Classic). The outside/right side hitter is currently third in the Summit League in kills with 135 through 11 matches and she ranks fifth in the league in hitting percentage.

Twice this season she has notched 17 kills in matches against Liberty and Eastern Michigan.

Women's soccer

Winona State sophomore Georgette Topalis (Buffalo Grove) scored the second goal in the Warriors season-opening win over Upper Iowa last Thursday. Topalis had 5 shots in the game that ushered in a new era of soccer under head coach Matt Kellogg.

• Illinois Wesleyan sophomore Maureen McGrath (St. Viator) scored her first collegiate goal in the Titans' 4-4 tie at UW- La Crosse. McGrath's goal with less than 4 minutes remaining was the game-tying goal for IWU.

• Elmhurst senior defender Kennedy Irmen (Schaumburg) helped the Bluejays post a pair of shutout victories and was named the College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin co-Women's Soccer Players of the Week.

Elmhurst limited Benedictine to just three total shots and only one shot on goal in a 3-0 win. Then Irmen and the Blue jay defense allowed Concordia (WI.) just 6 shots and 2 shots on goal in a 2-0 win.

For the season, the Elmhurst defense has allowed just one goal and only eight shots on goal.

Baseball

Barrington Post 158's Luc Bresse was one of nine players in the country to be selected to the all-American Diamond Academic American Legion baseball team this summer.

He received a $2,500 scholarship and was the Illinois representative which earned him an additional $500 scholarship.

Bresse, who is attending Kansas University, was the starting shortstop on the 2017 Post 158 team that finished third in the state and again in 2018 when the team lost in the division championship.

He was selected to the American Legion 10th District All-Star team and had the highest batting average on the team.

In addition to being a tremendous baseball player, Bresse maintained a high grade-point average and was active in the community helping with refereeing and announcing youth games in Cary.

He also had a job working at a local Lake Barrington business, The FattFro Zone, and he served on the youth board for Journey Care in Barrington.

"Luc is a tremendous competitor," said Barrington Post 158 head coach Nate Gray. "He is an outstanding leader, and even a better young man."

Men's soccer

Lewis men's soccer goalie Edgar Avila of Schaumburg was named the Great Lakes Valley Conference men's soccer defensive player of the week. It was the first player of the week accolades for Avila and he is the first Flyer to earn defensive player of the week honors since David Pyle in October of 2014.

Avila posted a pair of shutouts against Midwest Regional opponents. He made 4 saves in Lewis' draw with 24th-ranked Saginaw Valley. Two of the saves came in the first minute of the game and he made a crucial stop in the 99th minute to preserve the shutout.

He came back with 3 saves in a 1-0 win at Davenport for his third straight clean sheet. Two of those saves came in the second half to hold the lead and the shutout.

Football

Augustana sophomore safety John Kappel (Wheeling) has two of the nine take-aways for the Vikings (1-1) this season with a fumble recovery and an interception while Vikings junior Bobby Jarosz (Prospect) has 78 yards and 2 touchdowns on 15 carries, good for 5.2 yards per carry.

Women's tennis

Millikin's Madeline Delano (Buffalo Grove) earned a win against Dubuque in the 2018 Dorothy McClure Tournament hosted by Millikin at the Fairview Tennis Center in Decatur.

Elk Grove Feeder

Tryouts for the Elk Grove Lady Grens feeder basketball team are Wednesday, Oct. 10 and Thursday Oct. 11 at the Elk Grove High School gymnasium for fifth through eight graders from 7:30 p.m. to 9 p.m.

Eligible players include girls grades fifth through eighth who will attend Elk Grove High School. Must bring a completed registration form and liability waiver form, which is available online at https://sites.google.,com/a/d214.org/eghs-girls-basketball. If any questions, contact Jennifer Buxton at jennifer.buxton@d214.org.

The feeder program is also looking for parent volunteer coaches to help guide the girls at the seventh grade level. Please email Buxton if you can give your time.

St. Viator feeder

Tryouts for the St. Viator Boys Feeder program are Sept. 30 and Oct. 6. Interested families can reach Joe Rooney at 630-202-0302 or at LITERAL121@juno.com.

Information can be found on the St. Viator website at httpp://www.saintviator.com/file/athletics/basketball/BaketballFeederTryouts.pdf

Let us know

Please send updates on former Cook County athletes from the Daily Herald circulation area to jleusch@dailyherald.com each week so we can list their achievements in this column.