Scouting Fox Valley water polo

Fresh from capturing its first boys state swimming title, several members of St. Charles North's championship team are back in the pool this spring - and not simply training for next season.

St. Charles North's boys water polo team is busily preparing for the 2019 campaign, one that veteran coach Chris Cloy sees plenty of promise.

"The first few practices to start the season have been excellent," said Cloy, who begins his 11th season coaching boys water polo at St. Charles North. "The boys have been energized and committed to setting a strong foundation to the season."

Cloy himself was energized a few weeks prior to the season.

"We held a few open polo scrimmages in the weeks leading up to the season starting and we had a fantastic turnout," said the coach.

Two weeks removed from state competition, conditioning of the swimmers is not a concern.

"Most of them are coming off of swim season so they are in good shape but they need to spend some time recapturing their water polo skills from the fall," said Cloy.

Cloy, who played water polo at Sandburg, expects big things from a group of returnees that includes lone senior Charlie Wiliams, juniors Siba Filipovic and Matt Wolff, and sophomore Lukas Kuizenga.

"Charlie is a returning 3rd-year varsity starter (at utility)," said Cloy. "Last year, his main position was center defender but he can really play anywhere in the pool.

"He provides the experience needed to lead the new players this season."

Williams, who swam on the 2nd-place 200 free relay team, was the North Stars' second-leading scorer with 40 goals last season.

Siba Filipovic is back after leading the team with 83 goals and 71 steals as a sophomore.

"He can play anywhere in the pool, perimeter or center and is a dominant two-way player," said Cloy of his first team all-sectional pick from a year ago - the first in school history to receive the honor.

Wolff, a driver, also started last season while Kuizenga makes a position change from goalie to center.

"He had a tremendous year in goal last season but is a more natural field player," said Cloy.

A newcomer to watch is freshman utility Alec Filipovic, who placed 5th in the IM and 7th in the 100 free at state.

"He comes into the program after spending the last couple years playing with STC Water Polo," said Cloy. "He combines that experience with incredible swimming ability and will have an immediate and profound impact on our team as a freshman."

At St. Charles East, Brett Unruh enters his second season trying to raise the program to another level.

"Last year, we were a very young team trying to get experience and begin understanding the game," said Unruh, who played 3 years at McHenry and at Iowa. "This year, some of the hard work we have done is starting to pay off and we're beginning to see the results in practice."

The list of returnees includes seniors Ian Brodaford (utility), Brendan Kempf (driver), juniors Sawyer Schulte (goalie), Matthew Boryk (point), Connor Drury (driver), and sophomores Landon Hollman (flat), Hunter Kos-Dondlinger (set), Ethan Kos-Dondlinger (driver), Calvin Windle (flat), Robin Lima (driver) and Colin Roche (driver).

Top newcomers are senior Gabe Borges (goalie), junior Nate Milosch (flat), sophomores Braden Clarke (flat), Spencer Godina (driver), and freshmen Sal Sandecki (driver) and Tyler Wojdyla (driver).

"I am very excited about this group," said Unruh, who coached 5 seasons at Maine West. "We have a lot of talent returning and have added some outstanding young players to an already young but talented core."

The Saints open their season March 13 against Maine East.

On the girls' side, St. Charles North enters the season ranked 13th in the state by Illpolo.com.

"Practices have been very productive," said North Stars coach George Mitchell, who played at Palatine and spent 5 years coaching JV boys water polo at St. Viator and Palatine.

The team's top returnees are seniors Lexi Coakley (goalie), Olivia Traxler (center), Anna DeVries (attacker), Jules Engesser (center defender), Kayleigh Lewis (utility) and Megan Hamilton (attacker).

The North Stars began their season with a 14-6 victory over Schaumburg last Monday behind a 10-goal effort from Traxler. Engesser scored 3 goals while Hamilton added another, and Coakley recorded 7 saves.

Juniors Emma Allamian (utility), Aubrey Suhr (attacker) and sophomore Ellie Hamilton (center/utility) head the list of newcomers.

"We expect to work on having a strong, defensive water polo game that is versatile and can defend different types of offenses," said Mitchell.

The North Stars, who reached the sectional semifinals last season, host their own invite March 16.

St. Charles East, which begins its season at Saturday's Conant Invite, welcomes back 6 seniors - Alexia Cornille, Grace Kos-Dondlinger, Alexandra DelBello, Sarah Graci, Meri Chivari and Brianna DiCicco.

Juniors Allison Tarpey, Julia Zenz, Hannah Wojdyla and sophomore Olivia Furmanek round out coach Stephanie Ter Bush's roster.