Girls volleyball: Spring season puts club players in unique spot
What a change for high school girls volleyball in Illinois.
Teams finally return to the court for game action Monday in a sprint of a six-week season that concludes April 24.
The decision to postpone the season from the tradition fall to the condensed spring has had several consequences.
This normally is a key time of the year for club volleyball. By delaying the high school season to the spring, it has put many players in the tough position of choosing between high school and club.
Alyssa Worden, a sophomore outside hitter at South Elgin who led the team with 315 kills as a freshman, decided to play club at Sports Performance. So did junior teammate Emma Hunter.
"I totally respect their decision," Storm coach Joni Plach said. "I told them I was sad but not mad. They need to make a choice that is best for them.
"This gives some other players the opportunity to step up. I thought a lot of girls looked really good (at tryouts) and I'm excited to see how they develop into varsity players."
Huntley coach Karen Naymola didn't know if she would have senior outside Emma Konnie until the middle of tryouts.
"She wasn't sure if she was going to play with her club," Naymola said. "It's going to be a crazy, fast six weeks. Everyone has to be pretty flexible. Club and high school going at the same time, is going to be tough on these kids."
Geneva coach Annie Seitelman has players in both club and high school volleyball. She said there will be some weekend practices the girls miss to attend club tournaments, and that she set up Geneva's schedule without weekend matches to avoid conflicts.
A few area coaches said the lack of volleyball has made it harder for their seniors to earn college looks. Seitelman said that's the case for two of her players, seniors Devynn Day and Anna Loberg.
The six-week season will also feature a schedule that looks nothing like a typical fall. No weekend invitationals. No postseason regional, sectional or state tournament.
And as for the regular season schedules? Like the recently completed shortened basketball season, conferences are all scheduling slightly different. The DuKane once again is playing every school twice plus a couple nonconference games. Geneva is playing Metea and Waubonsie Valley; St. Charles East has Benet, St. Francis, South Elgin and Neuqua Valley.
The Fox Valley Conference plays FVC schools once leaving a week to conclude the season with a conference tournament. There's also room for two nonconference matchups: Huntley faces Barrington and Belvidere North.
Without the weekend tournaments, Plach said she tried to schedule many of the schools they normally would see at those tournaments including Hampshire, Burlington Central and Dundee-Crown.
"I know they will make the most of this short season," Plach said.