Girls volleyball notes: Glenbard West, St. Francis look good on trips south
Glenbard West and St. Francis enjoyed success on the volleyball court this past weekend at the Crossroads Classic in downstate Effingham.
After starting the week with a win over York, a match in which Marin Johnson had 20 kills with 0 errors, Glenbard West (14-1) came within 2 points of winning the prestigious Crossroads tournament.
After beating St. Louis Ursuline and Belleville Althoff in pool play, the Hilltoppers dumped Breese Mater Dei and Newburgh Castle (IN) before falling to Ozark (MO) in the championship match, 25-20, 19-25, 25-23.
Johnson, Penelope Vilkama, and Breccan Scheck were named to the all-tournament team for the Hilltoppers, the No. 1 team in the Daily Herald Top 20.
"We had a great week against some really tough competition," said GW coach Dan Scott, whose team beat Downers Grove North in straight sets on Tuesday.
St. Francis 4th at Crossroads:
The defending Class 3A state champion Spartans (8-3) downed Henderson County (KY), Fairfield and Edwardsville in pool play before losing to Ozark (MO) in the semifinals and Newburgh Castle in the third-place match. St. Francis was led by Addy Horner (40 kills, 6 aces, 36 assists, 14 digs, 5 blocks) and Shay McMillen (26 kills, 6 digs, 6 blocks), who were all-tournament selections. Anna Paquette (16 kills, 7 aces, 18 dig, 3 blocks), Catherine D'Orazio (11 aces, 52 digs), Emma Delaney (12 kills, 9 blocks) Addy Jones (9 blocks) Gabs Rendina (8 kills), Liv Basel (5 aces, 17 digs), Grace Melcher (5 kills, 3 blocks), Brooklyn Johnson (3 kills, 2 blocks) and Veronica Urbasek (48 assists, 15 digs) also performed well for the Spartans.
Jacobs update:
The Golden Eagles, who slipped to 6-6 overall and 4-3 in the Fox Valley with a loss to Crystal Lake Central on Tuesday, defeated Dundee-Crown and Burlington Central prior to that loss. In those wins, Jacobs was led by middle hitter Ali Pierre with 16 kills, 11 blocks, 6 aces, and 3 digs, outside hitter, Jordan Miller with 8 kills, 1 block, 1 aces, and 30 digs, setter, Abby Deacon with 21 assists, 3 aces, and 13 digs, libero, and Gracie Breeze with 41 digs, 2 aces, 2 assists, and 1 kill
"We are really starting to put everything together and playing great team defense," said coach Mike Depa. "It really showed in the second set against Burlington Central when we were down a set and down 21-24 when we came back to win 26-24 and then won the third set 25-11. I am very excited to see our team continue to grow and get better together to play even better team defense the rest of the season."
Burlington Central update:
After putting together a five-match winning streak, the Rockets (5-3, 4-3 FVC) fell to Jacobs and Prairie Ridge. Ashli Bonds (Sr., outside) and Leah Freesemann (jr., outside) led the Rockets offensively, with Bonds averaging 10 kills per match with a .277 clip, and Freesemann averaging 7 kills per match with a .294 clip. Brianna Gritzman (jr., libero) led the defense with an average of 16 digs per match. Gritzman is second in the FVC in digs. Julia Johnson (so., right side) and Freesemann rounded out the defense with 4 and 6 blocks respectively. Tiernan Naus (fr., setter) made her varsity debut, averaging 10 assists per match.
"Jacobs was our first loss after a 5-game win streak," said BC coach Julia Smagacz. "We've had a couple of very strong days of practice and competition to regroup, and we're looking to close out our first half of conference play on a high note." The Rockets host rival Hampshire in an FVC match on Thursday.
WW South update:
After Tuesday's win over Glenbard North, Tigers coach Bill Schreier stands at 499 wins as the school's girls coach. He went for No. 500 in Wednesday's pool play opener of the Wheaton Classic against Yorkville. The Tigers entered that match 10-4 on the season, with their losses coming to top-ranked Marist twice, No. 3 Oak Park-River Forest and No. 7 Normal U-High.
Benet update:
The Redwings (10-1, 2-0 East Suburban Catholic) rolled into pool play at the Wheaton Classic on Wednesday after beating St. Viator 25-16, 25-12 on Tuesday. Elle Stiernagle (1 kill, 19 assists, 3 digs, 2 blocks), Audrey Asleson (4 kills, Lynney Tarnow (6 kills, 1 dig, 1 block), Sophia Pursley (1 kill) Ava Novak (7 kills, 2 digs), Gabby Stasys (1 kills, 2 digs), Aniya Warren (18 digs), Ava Ledebuhr (3 digs), Christine Pullen (4 digs), Ella Reiser (1 kill), Mary Kate Ritterbusch (1 dig), Sophia Chinetti (1 kill, 3 digs) and Taylor Kunka (21 digs) led that win. In a win over Downers Grove North last week, the Redwings' junior libero Aniya Warren got her 1,000th career dig.
Huntley update:
The Red Raiders (8-0, 7-0 FVC) won their 25th straight FVC match on Tuesday when they beat Cary-Grove. Last week, in a 25-4 win over Hampshire, Lizzy Williams served 19 points. "Morgan jones and Georgia Watson had a great week leading us in kills," said Huntley coach Karen Naymola.
Hinsdale South update:
Hinsdale South had regular-season wins over Proviso East and Richards last week, before traveling to Effingham for the Crossroads Classic. The Hornets (6-10) finished fourth in the Silver Bracket, which is an improvement of 7 places from a year ago. "We had quality wins over Champaign Central and Althoff Catholic," said coach Ben Goodel. "Kotryna Melstrad has been getting the job done in all aspects of the game. Over the last six games she is hitting .236 with 52 kills, as well as leading the team in serve receive rating with a 1.81. In addition, Melstrad is serving at 91.7% with a rating of 2.35 on the season. Lexi Fedinec has stepped up to take the role of opposite hitter, and has hit .206 over her last six matches. She has made significant strides in serve receive as well. Claudia Budzak contributed to the offense by chipping in 29 kills and serving at a 2.26 rating in the last six games."
Willowbrook update:
The Warriors moved to 15-0 for the season and 2-0 in the West Suburban after beating Morton on Tuesday. Over the weekend, Willowbrook rolled to the title at the Leyden invite.
Sisters Hannah and Calli Kenny continue to lead the Warriors, who have lost only one set this season (to Lyons on Aug. 30).
Fenton update:
Fenton is currently 6-8 overall and 1-2 in the Upstate Eight. This past Saturday the Bison went 2-3 at the Antioch Invite. "We did some shuffling of the lineup and experimented with some position changes as we look to find the lineup that will have us ready for the postseason," said coach Dave Mello, whose team plays at the Ridgewood Invite on Saturday.
Aurora Christian update:
The Eagles moved to 10-3 on the season with a home win over Hope Academy on Tuesday, the school's first home game since the spring hailstorm of 2023, which closed the main gym at ACS for renovations. Last Saturday, the Eagles participated in the Wheaton Academy Quad finishing with a record of 3-0. Hope Wagner set a new team record high in kills with 15 against Trinity.