Girls volleyball notes: Experience paying off for Wheaton Academy
Talk about a turnaround.
Last year, the Wheaton Academy girls volleyball team finished the season 12-18, starting mostly sophomores.
That varsity experience has paid off this fall for the Warriors, who are 20-2 and 5-0 in the Metro Suburban Conference, after beating Aurora Christian earlier this week, which avenged one of their two losses.
Leading the Warriors this season statistically are juniors Kiki Shields (3.3 kills per set, 144 kills on the season), Kiera Morrison (2.7 kills per set, 120 kills on the season), Katelyn Kulesza (266 assists), and Maddie Lennox (149 digs). Shields committed to play at Palm Beach Atlantic just before the season started.
"Last year the team was young, all sophomores, and this year as juniors they have more experience and that certainly has made an impact," said Warriors coach Leah Dunlap.
"(Junior) Katelyn Kulesza is a fantastic setter and she is new on the team this year," added Dunlap, who noted Kulesza was home schooled and couldn't play last year due to IHSA transfer rules.
The Warriors will celebrate Senior Night on Thursday against Marian Central.
"Our three seniors - Abby Rathun (captain), Lily Blaser (captain) and Peyton Schur have been dedicated to the program for their time at Wheaton Academy. We are looking forward to celebrating them as they certainly deserve it," Dunlap said.
The schedule will amp up for the Warriors next week when they face Timothy Christian on Tuesday, which will likely be for the MSC title.
Wheaton Academy is a Class 3A school and is assigned to the St. Francis sectional.
Dundee-Crown update:
It's been a rough season for D-C, but the Chargers have persevered and have come up with a couple of nice wins lately, including knocking off Burlington Central in a Fox Valley Conference match on Tuesday, 15-25, 25-18, 25-16.
Senior middle Audrey Prusko led the Chargers with 14 kills and 13 digs. Senior Courtney Komperda added 12 digs and senior Taylor Findlay had 8 kills.
The win, which elevated D-C's season record to 4-12, was its third in its last four matches. The Chargers beat Larkin and Cary-Grove last week.
"The girls showed some true resilience," said D-C coach Alexis Cayton of the win over BC. "In our last matchup against the Rockets we lost. With the fuel from that game we came back hungry for a win. The first set did not go our way as we found ourselves struggling with serves. After some regrouping we changed our game plan and mindset. We began playing more cohesively. Every point we played was just like game point. We gave all of our effort during the play and after. We found some fuel at the service line in both the second and third sets to set us up for success. In the end, the team truly stepped up their game and made their adjustments well."
Downers Grove North update:
The Trojans are currently 12-8 and are on a 6-game win streak.
"Having played five opponents in the top 10 in state early in the season has been challenging but prepared us well for this past weekend's tournament as we took first place defeating host Kaneland in the championship match," said DGN coach Mark Wasik.
DGN's top hitters have been sophomores Kelley Crowley and Nora Benjamins, while junior Abby Gross continues to anchor the defense.
Top 20 stumbles:
Huntley and IC Catholic, the No. 2 and No. 7 teams, respectively, in this week's Daily Herald Top 20, each lost Tuesday night. McHenry stunned Huntley, ending the Red Raiders' FVC winning streak at 28, while IC fell to Mother McAuley.