Good mix of local talent has ECC volleyball on rise

The Elgin Community College women's volleyball team has 9 players on the roster.

And second-year coach Andy Jaszczurowki has seen an all hands on deck approach from his team that resulted in the Spartans sitting at 20-8 at the beginning of this week. ECC had won 8 of its last 10 matches to start the week and was ranked third in the NJCAA Division II Region IV District A poll.

"These girls play very well together," said Jaszczurowski. "They know each other's moves."

With the Spartans, things are brought together by 5-foot-6 inch sophomore setter Kristin Kramer (Larkin). Kramer was setting at a 38 percent efficiency (assists divided by attempts) to start the week.

"We've got a good nucleus of players here and right in the middle of that maelstrom is Kristin Kramer," said Jaszczurowski. "She's our quarterback. Her goal is to get to 40 percent efficiency. She had 1 game this year where she was at 59 percent."

ECC has also benefited from a strong defensive presence with the likes of sophomores Staci Holthus (libero, Burlington Central) and Tracey Enzenbacher (OH, St. Charles East), along with freshman Jackie Wojciechowski (DS-S, Larkin).

"Staci already has 366 digs. That's incredible," said Jaszczurowski. "All three of them are incredible. If there is a ball between them, they will try and find a way to come up with it."

Kramer has many options on the offensive end, including the likes of freshman middle Jackie Brannon (St. Charles North). Brannon, who did not make her high school's varsity team, was hitting .323 and was leading the team in kills (272) to start the week.

"The goal is to hit .300 just like in baseball and she's at .323," said Jaszczurowski. "She has a variety of shots. When we played Sandburg in Galesburg she had 17 kills by herself."

Brannon was ranked 36th in the country in kills per game (3.51), 39th in the country in aces per game (0.684) and 39th in the country in blocks per game (1.175) to start the week.

Fellow middle Heather Kenny (Elgin) hits left-handed out of the middle. Kenny was an all-Illinois Skyway Collegiate Conference first-team pick in 2006. She was ranked as high as fourth in the country last year in hitting percentage.

"Our middle is where our heart is," said Jaszczurowski.

"It's always good when a team has one strong middle," said Kramer. "We have two amazing middles."

Kenny ranked 26th in the nation in blocks per game (1.368) to start the week.

Sophomores Ilse Belmonte (Larkin), Enzenbacher, Patti Hannula (St. Edward) and freshman Ashley Nieves (St. Charles North) give Kramer plenty of depth at the pins. Belmonte had 249 kills to start the week. She was an all-conference second-team pick last year.

But ECC's players feel this year's success hasn't been about sheer talent.

"It's been all the hard work we've put in," said Holthus, who transferred in from UW-Platteville. "We've put a lot of hours in the gym. We come ready to work."

"I've never seen so much dedication," said Kramer, who ranked 30th in the nation in assists per game (9.692) to start the week. "We didn't have an amazing record last year, but we got determined and decided this was going to be our year. We've got a lot of different good things here that adds up to a big positive."

Holthus said a team-first sense has also played a major factor.

"I have never been on a team where everyone is encouraging each other and everybody actually wants each other to do well," said Holthus. "That feels great and it makes a big difference."

ECC started the week with a 3-2 mark in Illinois Skyway conference play. The Spartans have lost to McHenry and Moraine Valley -- teams they will likely encounter once again at the upcoming conference tournament. McHenry is ranked 10th nationally in Division II. Moraine received votes in the Division II national poll. Kishwaukee (also a Region IV member) is the No. 1 ranked team in the country in Division II (30-0 to start the week).

"We've improved so much from the beginning of the season," said Holthus. "We're kind of the underdog that has come back. We're doing well now and to be part of that has been so awesome. We'll have an opportunity to prove ourselves at the conference tournament."

"I think people might still be skeptical of us," said Kramer. "We can't wait for the conference tournament and the playoffs. All of the hard work we have put in I think will definitely pay off."

Jaszczurowski is looking forward to the stretch run as well. He pointed out that the region district rankings have ECC 3 points behind Blackhawk, but the teams split at a tournament earlier in the year. Blackhawk was 15-7-3 to start the week.

"I don't think we've gotten our proper respect yet," said Jaszczurowski. "But we're going to keep plugging away here. We'll face Kishwaukee here in a couple of weeks and they are absolute monsters. We're looking forward to seeing how we measure up to them."

Lamothe at North Central: Burlington Central alum Bobbie Lamothe is now a member of the North Central College women's golf team. Lamothe recently played in the Millikin Big Blue Classic at Red Tail Run Golf Course in Decatur. North Central finished seventh out of 17 teams. Lamothe shot a combined 185 for the 2 days. She finished 55th out of 111 golfers in the field. Lamothe and North Central are competing in the CCIW Championships in Decatur this weekend.

Mader at Purdue: Huntley grad Samantha Mader, now a senior on the Purdue University women's volleyball team, played in front of a pair of packed houses last weekend in West Lafayette, Ind. Mader had 11 kills to help Purdue defeat Ohio State in Big Ten Conference play. She followed that up with a team-high 13 kills and hit .385 in a 3-0 loss to Penn State in Big Ten play. Penn State came into the match ranked third in the nation in the most recent coaches' poll. The split put Purdue at 9-6 overall and 2-2 in conference action. On the season, Mader was averaging 3.02 kills per game (ranked second on the team) for the Boilermakers.

Off at College wants your help: Send information and/or statistics on Fox Valley-area athletes playing collegiately to Mike Miazga at difibulator@aol.com.