Girls volleyball DuPage County notebook: Timothy Christian clinches third straight conference title; Naperville North leads tight DVC race

One of DuPage County’s most consistent and successful girls volleyball teams over the last 2 seasons resides at the corner of Butterfield Road and Prospect Ave. in Elmhurst.

Coach Scott Piersma’s Timothy Christian squad is at it again, sporting a 21-2 overall mark after a Tuesday win against Elgin St. Edward that guaranteed a third straight Chicagoland Christian Conference regular-season title (6-0).

Timothy, which finished third in Class 2A a year ago and in a few weeks will reside in the Class 3A postseason, started the year with a school-record 13-match winning streak and with the St. Edward win has won 8 in a row. Going back to last season, the Trojans are 60-5 in their last 65 matches.

Key to Timothy’s success has been the contributions of many, including Bella Potempa (201 kills), Mia Van Hekken (39 aces), Kate Vogelzang (169 digs), Ella Rickert (40 blocks), Elizabeth Alex (408 assists) and Audrey Williams (hitting .466).

Alex recently passed the 1,500-career assist mark, doing so in roughly 2 years, coach Scott Piersma pointed out. She’s only the third setter in the program to hit that milestone in the last 15 years.

Benet Academy update: Wins earlier this week against DuKane Conference leader and 23-3 St. Charles North (in 3 sets) and Marian Catholic pushed Benet to 25-2 overall and 4-0 in East Suburban Catholic action. The Redwings are tied for the conference lead with Chicago Marist. The two powerhouses meet next week.

Coach Brad Baker likes the balance he’s seeing offensively with Brooklynne Brass, Lynney Tarnow and Molly Welge each over 100 kills, and Sophia Chinetti was about to join that group at week’s start. “We keep getting better and the girls are working very hard to make sure that continues,” Baker said.

Benet (No. 17), Chicago Mother McAuley (18) and Marist (19) have seats at the MaxPreps Top 25 national rankings table.

Glenbard East update: Rams coach Bradley Cardott is encouraged by his squad’s improved play of late. The Rams were 8-18 overall and 2-1 in the Upstate Eight East (tied for second) to start the week. Belle McDermott leads the team in kills.

Glenbard North update: Recent DuKane Conference wins against Wheaton Warrenville South and Lake Park had the Panthers (14-10, 2-2 to start the week) on a 6-match winning streak.

Coach Carrie McCann pointed out this is the first instance of North ever having more than 1 win in DuKane play and the team has not surpassed 14 wins since the 2018 season. “We are on the way to have the best record for Panther volleyball in the last 5 years,” she said.

McCann pointed to the contributions of many for the team’s rise, including junior setter Abby Graf (DuKane No. 2 and Class 4A Top 10 in assists with 453; 28 aces), outside Mary Kolozsy (143 kills, 102 digs, 27 aces), outside Nikolina Petkovic (133 kills, .304 hitting), libero Lucy Perez, and senior middles Viki Moczydlowski, Sarah Bilek and Keagan Edwards. “We are coming out and competing and finishing big matches on top,” McCann said.

Glenbard West update: Setter Cara Herbert (416 assists, 30 aces) should surpass the 2,000-career assist mark in the coming matches.

Coach Dan Scott also has been pleased with the play of middle Farryn Burridge (120 kills, 46 blocks) outside-right side Ella Rowe (137 kills), freshman libero Grace Markey and 6-rotation outsides Emily Jurek and Caitlyn Antonacci who both add a lift to the Hilltoppers’ defense and serve-receive. West started the week 19-5 overall and 1-2 in West Suburban Silver action.

Naperville Central update: Seniors Caroline Impey (.345 hitting, 146 kills) and Sophia Svingen (.283 hitting, 87 kills, 30 solo blocks) are drawing rave reviews for their play on and off the court for the Redhawks (10-8, 2-2 DuPage Valley).

“Caroline and Sophia have stepped up both as leaders as well as captains of the team,” coach Eric Kaisling said. “They lead by their play, but also lead vocally.”

Naperville North: Coach Nate Bornancin pointed out the race for the DuPage Valley title will be a tight one with North (14-6 overall), sitting at 4-1 after a Tuesday win against Neuqua Valley (3-2). Waubonsie Valley started the week 3-1, while Naperville Central was 2-2.

“The conference is truly up for grabs,” he said.

The Huskies, fourth at Conant and second at Hersey, have enjoyed winning streaks of 5 and 6 matches this season. Joelle Pye-Blacknard (12 kills, 3 aces against Neuqua) earned all-tournament honors at Conant.

Bornancin also likes how liberos Ennette Bednarz and Elle Smith have been playing lately. “Each girl has multiple double-digit dig matches (both over 100 digs while passing above a 2.0 on the season). Their hard work and relentless pursuit define the identity of our program,” Bornancin said.

Waubonsie Valley update: The Warriors started the week sitting in first place in the DuPage Valley Conference at 3-1 and overall are 11-8 after going 11-4 in their last 15 matches (3-match winning streak to start the week). Waubonsie had a key conference win against Naperville North recently in a competitive DVC.

Chole Gollaher (team leader in kills) earned all-tournament honors at the Crimson Classic, while Hailee Pietryk, the team leader in digs and serve-receive passing, was all-tournament at the Wheaton Classic. Olivia O’Hara (team leader in assists), Addie Candrian and Anna Axelsen also are key Warrior factors. Candrian averaged 8 kills during a recent 3-match stretch, while Axelsen solidified her spot in the middle the past 2 weeks, coach Noel Soto noted.

Wheaton Academy update: Solomiya Stefurak and Ava Yaros have made big impacts for the Warriors (15-9, 3-2 Chicagoland Christian) out of the middle, while Emily From is stepping up Wheaton Academy’s defensive game and energy level of late, coach Cody Nielsen pointed out.

Steph Thelen and Addie VanderLugt lead the Warirors in kills, while Stefurak is tops in blocks and hitting percentage. Leah Bellak leads in service aces and Penny Park in assists.

Wheaton North update: The Falcons started the week 13-10 overall and 3-1 in DuKane Conference play. Coach Justin Hineman noted North has been on the wrong side of multiple close matches with 4 of its final sets coming down to 2 points.

Senior setter Sophia Ohashi is getting it done running the offense (300 assists) and from the service line (34 aces). Ohashi is distributing to a roster that has 5 hitters approaching or having eclipsed 100 kills (North had 3 over 100 all last season). “Sophia has been superb all year and is running a great offense that keeps the defense off-balance,” Hineman said.

Senior libero Abby Lee also was cited for strong recently play.

Willowbrook update: The Warriors (13-8, 3-1 West Suburban Gold) are paced by the likes of Evelyn Lammers (109 kills, 27 aces), Kendall Norton (294 assists, 27 aces), Julia Amin (37 blocks) and Tess Doyle (188 digs, 26 aces). Norton and Maggie Hurley were all-tournament at Leyden.

Warriors coach Irene Mason has been particularly impressed with the recent play of Doyle and Hurley. “Tess is carrying us defensively, covering our hitters consistently,” she said. “She gives a full-out effort and works hard every game. She’s a great teammate and positive leader. Maggie has been dominant blocking, is efficient hitting every night, has a positive attitude and has improved her defense.”

York update: The Dukes are on the cusp of a 20-win season, moving to 19-7 overall and 2-2 in West Suburban Silver play with a recent win over Proviso West.

Katie Day (team-high 191 kills), Reese Timmerwilke (team-high 46 blocks), Lila Bennis (tops with 26 aces and 157 digs) and Madelene Braathen (team-high 233 assists) have been key cogs, and coach Danny Piwowarczyk also is high on the play of Audrey Faley (hitting a team-best .353), sophomore outside hitter Eileen Carroll and junior libero Emma Braathen with the latter two passing for 6 rotations.