Scouting DuPage County girls water polo games
Top teams: Naperville Central, Naperville North.
Top games: Naperville Central at New Trier, March 23; Naperville Central at Naperville North, April 8; Naperville North at Fenwick Mike Murphy Invite, April 10-11; Mother McAuley at Naperville North, April 13; Naperville North at Neuqua Valley, April 14; Neuqua Valley at Naperville Central, April 16; Naperville Central at Fenwick, April 23; Mother McAuley at Naperville Central, April 27; Naperville North at Stevenson, May 6; Neuqua Valley at Stevenson Tournament, May 9.
Top players: Grace Achepohl (York, Jr.); Sarah Anderson (Waubonsie Valley, Sr.); Amanda Brockmeier (Neuqua Valley, So.); Rachael Carlen (Metea Valley, Jr.); Catherine Carroll (Neuqua Valley, Jr.); Alex Cerra (Metea Valley, So.); Abbie Chamberlain (Metea Valley, Sr.); Kaela Codo (Naperville Central, Jr.); Nicole Conway (Waubonsie Valley, So.); Heather De Boer (Hinsdale Central, Sr.); Gracie Dunn (Hinsdale Central, Sr.); Gabby DuVal (Metea Valley, So.); Jillian Eiken (Naperville North, Sr.); Ellie Fitzpatrick (York, Jr.); Izzy Gil (York, Jr.); Issi French (Neuqua Valley, Jr.); Caitlin Holzer (Naperville North, Jr.); Katie Horn (Naperville North, Jr.); Leah Hummel (Metea Valley, Sr.); Maddie Kliebahn (York, Sr.); Jean Kiwiet (Hinsdale South, Sr.); Jocelyn Lent (Metea Valley, Jr.); Lauren Liberio (Naperville North, Sr.); Eley Matern (Naperville North, Sr.); Morgan Miller (Neuqua Valley, Sr.); Sarah Neary (Neuqua Valley, Sr.); Pricila Olivas (Metea Valley, Jr.); Nina Relias (Hinsdale Central, Sr.); Claire Onchuck (Hinsdale South, Sr.); Jessica Ostrowski (Hinsdale South, Jr.); Kimela Srey (Waubonsie Valley, Jr.); Taylor Stoner (Naperville North, Jr.); Faith Vandercar (Naperville Central, Jr.); Nicole Walsh (Neuqua Valley, Sr.); Emily Westlove (Naperville Central, So.); Carli York (York, Jr.).
Outlook: It was quite the season for Naperville North in 2014. The team finished 30-1, advancing to the state finals before being knocked out by eventual state champ Fenwick in the first round. Coach Andy McWhirter said the Huskies are aiming for more of the same this season. "Top players are returning and the team goal is to return to the state tournament," he said. There's plenty of veteran presence in the Naperville North lineup as seniors Jillian Eiken, Lauren Liberio and Eley Matern return along with juniors Katie Horn, Caitlin Holzer and Taylor Stoner. Eiken was last season's leading scorer with 86 goals and 48 assists. Horn was second with 67 goals and 24 assists. Holzer and Stoner each had strong sophomore seasons with Holzer earning 24 goals and 38 assists with Stoner contributing 20 goals and 16 assists.
Naperville Central comes off a 2014 season when something rare happened to the Redhawks. For just the second time in 10 years, the team, which finished 27-6, did not advance to the state finals. Naperville North headed to state by beating Naperville Central by one goal in the sectional final. The Redhawks enter this season with plenty of experience in big games but with just two seniors in the entire program. "This will mean that some of the younger girls will need to step up their play as they battle for open starting positions," coach Jeff Plackett said.
The top three returning players for the Redhawks were all-sectional in 2014. Junior attacker Kaela Codo scored 56 goals and finished with 54 assists and 75 steals. Junior goalie Faith Vandercar made 290 saves and earned a 4.75 goals-against average. Sophomore attacker Emily Westlove contributed 37 goals, 39 assists and 65 steals. Attackers Alli Hansen and Anne Marie Gunn and utility Emily Rodgers, all sophomores, are new varsity players expected to contribute. Plackett said the Redhawks will be buoyed by players from last season's JV squad that went undefeated. Many of those players got experience during the varsity postseason.
The Neuqua Valley Wildcats look to the defense to give them a big boost in trying to progress from last season's 14-16 mark. And that defense includes junior goalie Issi French. "We also have a lot of new speed and talent that has not been tested at the varsity level and should surprise everyone," coach Lucy Tiffin said. "Our general hope this season is to make it to the sectional finals. In order to do so we need to build our team dynamic with a lot of new and exciting players." Besides French, other veterans back include seniors Morgan Miller, Nicole Walsh and Sarah Neary along with junior Catherine Carroll and sophomore Amanda Brockmeier. Top newcomers are sophomores Heather Sterchele and Zoe Salafatinos.
Metea Valley lost some experience due to graduation, but coach Wyatt Jansen is optimistic that the players that will replace them will help the Mustangs this spring with their speed and athleticism. "Our players are responding, learning a lot, and will be poised for an even better season than last year. Our goal, simply , is to win more. Our players are hungry, motivated, and playing with a lot of heart and vigor. I think we will surprise a lot a people and beat some teams we aren't necessarily supposed to on paper," Jansen said. Metea finished 8-19 last season. Top returning players include seniors Leah Hummel and Abbie Chamberlain along with juniors Jocelyn Lent, the team's goalie, and Pricila Olivas and Rachael Carlen. Sophomores back in the lineup are Gabby DuVal and Alex Cerra. Newcomers expected to contribute are freshmen Anna Scovil, Shealyn Streder, Sadie Gregory, Ashley Buscher and Lexi Budnick.
Waubonsie Valley coach Diana Schill is looking towards the Warriors' increased experience to help the team improve upon last season's bottom half sectional seeding and sectional quarterfinal exit.
"We have high hopes for our season. We kept many of our players. However, we lost some essential players," Schill said. "But the team has more experience than it has had in the past and it really wants to work hard to do well this season." The Waubonsie coach added that she looks forward to seeing sophomore goalie Nicole Conway improved as much as Conway did during her rookie season. Schill is looking again to senior Sarah Anderson for leadership and scoring and said junior Kimela Srey has versatile scoring abilities crucial to the team.
The York Dukes always have high expectations and this year is no exception. The Dukes finished 16-16 in 2014 and won their sectional opener before losing to eventual state champ Fenwick. "Each season the York girls make tremendous strides both in and outside of the pool. We will be focusing on the fundamentals of water polo this season, but will also have strong chemistry. The girls on my team are all very intelligent and hard working; they are more than capable of pulling off some upsets this season with their work ethic and competitiveness," said coach Mark Giuliani. York has a number of returning players, but lost a lot of starters to graduation. Senior Maddie Kliebahn is the only senior on the roster and will make a switch from goalie to field player. The Dukes have a strong junior class in Grace Achepohl, Carli York, Ellie Fitzpatrick and Izzy Gil. Sophomore Sarah Lewand will be the new goalie and fellow sophomores Sarina Kao and Amalia Siavelis bring speed to the York lineup.
Having a group of players return for a season having played together the first three years of high school is always an asset, and Hinsdale Central is in that situation as it tries to improve upon the 14-14 record it earned in 2014. The Red Devils return six seniors, five of whom have played together from the start of high school. Top veterans include seniors Nina Relias, Gracie Dunn and Heather De Boer. "Some things we will have to work on are depth after the seniors. We have 20 freshman and sophomore players in the program. This means that we will have to depend on minutes from young players this year. We are looking to make every game competitive through hard work and consistent play," coach Chris Ortiz said. Ortiz looks for contributions from first-year varsity players Lauren Hamp and Samara Lillioja, both juniors, and sophomore Zoe Relias.
First-year Hinsdale South coach Landon Joiner is looking toward a group of veterans and younger players to help the Hornets add some weight to their win column after a 2-26 showing in 2014. "I am happy to have all returning girls that played last year. The upperclassmen have already shown great leadership in the first week of practice. We have a good-sized freshmen class," Joiner said. Top veterans are seniors Jean Kiewit and Claire Onchuck and junior Jessica Ostrowski. Joiner is expecting freshmen Brianna Vaselik and Shannon Ferguson to make an impact right away.
- D.J. Wanberg