Self, Radtke make big impact on campus
Rhode Island’s Layne Self and Northern Illinois’ Jenna Radtke, both freshmen, have wasted little time making an impact for their women’s volleyball teams.
Each former Lake County volleyball standout recently earned weekly awards from their conferences.
Ÿ Self collected her second Atlantic 10 ‘Defensive Player of the Week’ award. She previously became URI’s first Defensive Player of the Week in school history on Oct. 7.
The Rhode Island rookie led all players this past week with 17 blocks, including a pair of solos. She recorded match-highs in blocks in both of the Rams’ matches — at Saint Louis (9) and at George Washington (8). She also posted a .290 attack percentage with 15 kills on 31 attacks.
The Hawthorn Woods native and Lake Zurich grad now has 129 blocks for the season, which is the seventh-best single-season total in program history as well as URI’s most in a single season in 15 years (Cheri Melson, 142 blocks, 1998).
Ÿ Radtke was named the Mid-American Conference West Division’s “Offensive Player of the Week”
It is the first time Radtke has won the award. She is also the second different Huskie to earn the weekly honor in 2013.
“It was great for Jenna to be recognized by the conference for her solid weekend,” said NIU head coach Ray Gooden. “It’s a reflection of not only her as an individual, but also our team’s play over the weekend.”
Radtke was a big part of NIU’s wins at Central Michigan and Eastern Michigan.
The Buffalo Grove native and Stevenson grad notched 11 kills (3.67 kills/set) and a team-best .529 attack percentage, in addition to one block assist (0.33 blocks/set) in a 3-0 sweep of the Chippewas. The next night, Radtke paced the Huskies with 14 kills (3.5 kills/set) and a .444 hitting average to go along with two aces (0.5 aces/set) and five blocks (1.25 blocks/set) in the 3-1 triumph against the Eagles. Between the two victories, she averaged 3.57 kills/set and a .477 attack percentage.
Women’s cross country
Southern Illinois sophomore Kelley Gallagher (Vernon Hills)finished in 21st place (21:02.18) at the NCAA Midwest Regional at Iowa State where the Saluki women finished a program-high fourth place.
Gallagher earned All-Midwest Region honors for finishing within the top-25, becoming one of the first Saluki women, along with teammate Kristen Levi, to do so since Sarah Rinker in 2005 (15th place).
Women’s soccer
DePaul senior Erin Pekovitch of Lake Zurich made some noise at the Big East Conference Championship semifinals as her 20-yard strike in the 68th minute gave the Blue Demons a 1-0 victory against Georgetown.
Ÿ Kecia Morway of Lake Villa and Katie Uyenishi of Hawthorn Woods are members of Colorado College, which won the Conference USA Tournament championship with a 3-0 victory against North Texas.
With the C-USA crown, the Tigers earned an automatic berth for the NCAA Tournament.
Ÿ The University of Chicago earned an at-large selection for the NCAA D-III Championship tournament. The squad, which includes senior forward Natalia Jovanovic of Gurnee will face Capital University in the first round on Saturday. The Maroons reached the postseason for the 13th time in the program’s history.
Men’s soccer
DePaul freshman goalkeeper Quentin Low of Long Grove made 4 saves to help DePaul defeat Marquette, 2-1. Low had to replace senior goalkeeper Eric Sorby who was injured in the opening 10 minutes.
Baseball
Carmel senior infielder-pitcher Quinten Sefcik signed his letter of intent with Illinois last week.
Ranked the No. 53 player in Illinois’ class of 2014 by Prep Baseball Report, Sefcik was an all-area pitcher last season.
“Quinten has an athletic, strong and physical presence,” said Illinois associate head coach Eric Snider. “He has all the tools to be a solid player for us as a left-handed hitting infielder.
“He has a plus arm and has hit 89 mph on the radar gun. He comes from a baseball family and has tremendous upside. With development and time, he will be an impact player and has a bright future at Illinois.”
Jones in Thanksgiving Documentary
Crystal Lake resident Dr. Norman Jones, the Palatine boys basketball coach from 1967 to 1971, is expected to appear on a HBO sports documentary titled “Sports in America: Our Defining Stories”.
Jones was interviewed about the Milan-Muncie Central game in 1964.
He attended the historic battle when tiny Milan (In.) upset favored Muncie to win the Indiana High School state boys basketball championship. It is the game that inspired the movie ‘Hoosiers.’
The all-new documentary examines how the universal thread of sport unites people and has shaped America’s character. The special debuts on Thanksgiving Day, Nov. 28 from 6 p.m. to 7:35 p.m. The documentary will also be available on HBO On Demand and HBO GO.
In a release put out by Communications Unlimited, Jones said that he arranged for himself and Bobby Plump (Milan player who made the famous shot) to be interview for the documentary.
The taping took place in Chicago on June 3, 2012.
Jones was interviewed for about 45 minutes and Plump for more than an hour.
Jones coached at North Vernon and Salem high schools in Indiana before moving to Illinois he played at Marion High School (In.) and was a two-year letterman at Ball State.
He wrote a book about growing up and playing basketball in Indiana called ‘Growing Up in Indiana: The Culture & Hoosier Hysteria Revisited.’
Ÿ Please email Sports Notes items to jleusch@dailyherald.com or FAX to (847) 427-1173.