DuPage County girls volleyball notes: Naperville North catches fire; youngsters playing well at Glenbard West, Lake Park

The Naperville North girls volleyball team has caught fire of late.

Coach Nate Bornancin’s squad won nine of 11 recent matches, including a Crosstown Classic win against Naperville Central and also winning the Hersey invite. North was off to a 16-8 start and had won its first four DuPage Valley Conference contests.

Senior outside Emma Chang was leading the team in kills (168) and was second in aces (11). Junior right side Jocelyn Jamrosz had 57 kills and 14 blocks during that 11-match run, while setters Grace Anderson and Addie Victor are balancing the offense as evidenced by the Huskies having three players over the 100-kill mark (Chang, Jamrosz and Joelle Pye-Blacknard).

Addison Trail update: The Blazers (13-10 overall, 2-2 West Suburban Gold) started the week on a four-match winning streak, which included wins over Lisle and Hoffman Estates recently.

During that recent four-match span, senior middle Frankie Rohlfing hit .354 with 22 kills, senior outside Giuliana Gallo had 32 digs, 24 kills and 15 aces, while senior defensive specialist Olivia Varghese had 29 digs and junior setter Nicole Lysiak had 36 assists and 19 digs.

Blazers coach Katie Inzinga noted Gallo’s consistency with serve and swings has helped the team score points, while Varghese’s digs are extending rallies and Rohlfing’s hitting and blocking are continuing to bring energy to the team.

Glenbard West update: Right-side hitter Madi Ash and defensive specialist Maddy O’Connell have been excelling for the Hilltoppers (21-3 to start the week). “Madi and Maddy are two very talented freshmen who are stepping up for us right now,” West coach Dan Scott said. “They have been huge pieces in our puzzle.”

Hinsdale South update: During a recent five-match span, Bella Farrare and Charley Cook led the way with 25 and 22 kills, respectively. “Bella and Charley have been swinging freely lately and as a result have punished a lot of poor blocking by opponents,” said Hornets coach Ben Goodall, whose team recently won the Yorkville Christian Manning invitational title.

Lake Park update: The youthful Lancers were 14-7 through their first 21 matches. Setter Evelyn Voytek is leading the team with her confidence, while outside hitter Malia Charse is gaining her form, hitting .300 during a recent two-week stretch, coach Brett Anetsberger noted. Middle blocker Lilah Cocat is taking away space at the net and had 11 blocks during a recent five-game span, including a program-record six blocks in a match against Glenbard West.

As a team, the Lancers are serving at better than a 90% clip with 36 aces during that same five-match run.

Montini update: Broncos coach Erik Vogt noted senior setter Avalyn DeKeyser (307 assists, 117 digs, 21 aces) has taken the team’s offense to a different level. “Avalyn is doing a great job moving the balls around to her hitters and is putting them in a great position to score,” he said, “not to mention her defense has been lights out lately.”

Junior libero-outside Hope Garland (148 digs, 26 aces) has been a jack-of-all-trades, playing libero and excelling against Oak Park-River Forest and outside in a recent match against Loyola.

Montini, which has used about 10 different lineups throughout the season, Vogt noted, also has received contributions from Micaela Haggerty (117 kills, 76 blocks), Victoria Reed (103 kills), Moira Quirk (71 kills, 17 blocks), Paige Pittman (25 blocks) and Addison Cox (79 digs).

Naperville Central update: Central coach Eric Kaisling pointed out the Redhawks have three players passing at over a 2.0 clip on a 3.0 scale in serve receive. “We have a pretty balanced attack right now,” he said. “We are able to distribute the ball well.”

Annabelle Kritzer changed from the middle to right side and is hitting .297 with 24 blocks, while Suzie Holloway also made the same middle to right side switch and is hitting .277 with 15 blocks.

Timothy Christian update: The Trojans ended September with 22 victories, the second-most in program history during that month.

Coach Scott Piersma noted outside hitters Mia VanHekken and Maddie Rudman had recent great two-week stretches. Both average more than three kills per set and in a match against Illiana Christian each had 10-plus kills. Timothy averages 11.5 kills and 15 digs per set.

Audrey Williams started the week leading Class 3A players in hitting percentage at .453 (according to one statistical service), while setter Sophie Kwak was leading Class 3A setters with 538 assists (second overall in the state).

The Trojans held their sixth annual Dig Pink match against Wheaton North.

Waubonsie Valley update: Since her return from injury, right side Addi Candrian has been leading the team in kills and blocks (as well as assists and aces the past two weeks) while playing six rotations. Middle blocker Anna Axelsen (committed to Wisconsin-Whitewater) is second on the team in blocks and kills.

Westmont update: Kotryna Vanagas was ranked fourth in the state in Class 2A in kills (225). She also has 156 digs and 25 aces. Layla Bunch (102 kills) was ranked in the top 10 in Class 2A in aces (41), while Ryley Johnson (245 assists) was tied for fifth in 2A in aces (44). Coach Jason Gentile added Eila Costello and Anna DeSagun, a pair of sophomores, have been key additions.

Wheaton North update: Falcons setter Emily Rochford recently notched her 1,000th career assist.

Wheaton Warrenville South update: Coach Bill Schreier pointed out the Tigers have four players on the team with at least 20 aces. He’s also been impressed with the play of Khloe Dudick, Alison Coyne and Evelina Mieliauskaite of late. “We moved some things around and it seems to be clicking a lot better now as our play has improved considerably from where we started the season at,” he said.

Willowbrook update: Maggie Hurley (hitting a robust .398 with 134 kills on 256 swings with only 32 errors) recently committed to NCAA Division II Union University in Jackson, Tennessee.

Hurley and Tess Doyle (47 aces and 199 digs in 49 sets) have been key cogs for Irene Mason’s squad this fall. Mason also lauded the recent efforts of Melanie Marinier and Evelyn Lammers. “Melanie is confidently running the offense,” she said. “Evelyn is scoring consistently, mixing up her shots and committing minimal errors.”