Girls volleyball: Loberg carrying on family tradition at Geneva
Geneva got its DuKane Conference schedule off to a smashing start this week by beating Wheaton Warrenville South in 3 sets Tuesday.
Not surprisingly, junior setter Anna Loberg was in the middle of the victory. She dished out 27 assists while playing scrappy defense with 10 digs.
That's what Geneva coach Annie Seitelman has come to expect from the two-year starter with a last name very familiar to Vikings fans.
Loberg's older sister Grace was also a standout volleyball player at Geneva, a dominating outside hitter who is now in her junior season at Wisconsin.
Such big footsteps could be hard for some players to follow, but Seitelman has been impressed with how Anna is handling it.
"It's nice she's not the same position," Seitelman said. "She creates her own identity. Grace continues to be that power hitter and her ball control has gotten better. Anna playing a different position is touching every ball. We're asking a little more this year as far as leadership and running the offense and being a little more vocal. They are both great kids. I'd love to have more of them coming up the pipeline."
Alas, the last Loberg child is eighth-grader Michael.
New look: St. Charles North is one of many area teams who is in a bit of a transition this fall after graduating players who were stalwarts for three or four years.
The North Stars dropped to 5-5 on Wednesday after a 2-set loss to Naperville Central, the second ranked team in the Daily Herald Top 20.
The North Stars looked better in defeat than they had earlier this season.
"It's a positive because we are playing much better volleyball than at Plainfield North (tournament)," North Stars coach Lindsey Hawkins said.
"We have players in much bigger roles than they are used to. We're working on settling into those roles and owning the bigger jobs we have and making sure we're not making so many unforced errors. We're playing phenomenal defense and our serve-receive is great. We need to make not so many errors."
Super sophs: Jacobs won seven of its first 10 games this season with a lineup that includes five sophomores.
All that youth is both exciting and trying at the same time with a needed dose of patience that goes along with it.
"We're young," Jacobs coach Lisa Dwyer said. "It's fun. They have a lot of heart. Sometimes we have great moments and sometimes we have mistakes. That's experience. They are fun to coach. They want to win and they want to do better. That experience is going to pay off."
Another FVC school, Burlington Central, can relate with six sophomores on its roster.
In good hands: Speaking of experience, Huntley coach Karen Naymola is blessed with plenty of it in four-year starting setter Taylor Jakubowski.
The Seton-Hall bound Jakubowski has led the Red Raiders to an 8-0 start including 7-0 in the Fox Valley Conference after Thursday night's win over Crystal Lake Central, who also had entered the matchup unbeaten in the FVC.
"She's also a four-year captain," Naymola said. "I've never had a freshman voted as a captain. It just says a lot about her. She's such a leader on and off the court. Even the girls who are new to our program that might not be playing on the court now are learning from her. She's a huge asset."
Naymola also has a three-year starter in lefty outside hitter Emma Konie, just a junior.
"She's such a composed, calm kid on the court," Naymola said. "The game could be 24-23 or it could be 10-0 and she plays the same way. She's aggressive. She's smart. She's one of our go-to players."