Anchors aweigh for Lake Zurich's Bauer

Audrey Bauer took in a Navy football game during a visit to the Annapolis, Md., academy this fall.

When she scanned the stands, the Lake Zurich senior saw, of course, a sea of white.

"We were standing in the student section and they were just all in their white uniforms," Bauer said.

All white is certainly all right with Bauer, who's given a verbal commitment to play basketball for the United States Naval Academy.

The A-student made her decision about a month ago, but at the time she was in the midst of a special volleyball season for Lake Zurich. A middle blocker, she earned all-conference and Daily Herald All-Area honors in helping the Bears win conference, regional and sectional championships before bowing out to Glenbrook South in the Class 4A Libertyville supersectional last Saturday.

"We didn't want to draw any attention away from what the volleyball team was doing," Bauer said of not making her Navy commitment official until the Bears' volleyball season ended. "And I just wanted to make sure everything went OK with the application.

"Everything is fine."

She made an official visit in September.

"After that," Bauer said, "I didn't really want to go anywhere else.

"The campus is really pretty and it's a really big facility for how many students go there. There's only about 4,000 students there. But what impressed me most about it was the people that I met there."

Bauer will be starting her fourth season on varsity for Lake Zurich. The 6-footer averaged 12.2 points and 8.6 rebounds per game in an all-conference and all-area junior campaign.

"I think she's bound to have a great year," Bears coach Chris Bennett said. "She's had three great years. She looks different from last year. She looks stronger and more confident."