Girls volleyball notes: Barrington's busy stretch includes Silver title at ASIC Challenge

Barrington's state-ranked girls volleyball team recently showed its endurance.

Playing 10 matches in nine days, the Fillies went 9-1.

During that stretch, the Fillies (24-3, 8-0 in the Mid-Suburban West) took the Silver championship at the ASIC Challenge where they were led by Jenna Meitzler (72 kills) followed by Hope Regas (61). Setter Gwen Adler had 17 aces with Sara Jensen clicking for 16. Berkely Ploder has 25 blocks (solo/assists combined).

Stevenson update:

Senior outside hitter Brynn Smith recently had a huge four-match stretch. Smith tallied 44 kills and only 2 hitting errors on 76 attempts (.553).

Mija Jegers (51 kills) and Smith (44 kills) were named to the all-tourney team at the Glenbrook North Invite last weekend where the Pats (24-6, 4-1 in the NSC) placed second to New Trier. Other tourney leaders for Stevenson were Ava Wysocki (16 kills), Cayla Weisner (9 kills, 5 aces, 12 digs, 6 blocks), Kyra Costabile (52 assists, 14 digs) and Rachel Shin (61 assists).

Hersey update:

Hersey improved to 16-5 and 8-0 in the MSL East with its two-set win over Rolling Meadows last week.

In a five-match stretch just before that win, outside hitter Erin Dela Riva put down 50 kills with 10 aces. Eileen Chavez had 102 assists and Elizabeth Avirmed collected 58 digs. Ola Wydmanski produced 10 blocks.

Buffalo Grove update:

The Bison (15-13, 5-3 in the MSL East) are being led on attack by seniors Maddie Halter (right side with 140 kills) and Janae Coglianese (outside hitter with 120 kills). Junior middle Adeline Sirbu has been the Huskies' most efficient hitter at 0.372.

Sophomore middle Cami Damm leads the team in blocks (48) and aces (34).

BG coach Matt Priban said sophomore outside Tetiana Kutsyk has played a key role.

"She has really stepped up as of late," he said. "She dealt with an injury problem for the first month of the season but has come on strong since returning.

In a recent win against Prospect, Kutsyk was 24-of-26 with 14 kills.

"We've had strong finishes at the Wheaton North tournament (fourth place, the best finish in Priban's 12 years directing the program) and Niles West tournament (fifth with a 4-1 record)," Priban added. "We hope to keep growing as we get ready for regionals."

Mundelein update:

Mundelein girls volleyball coach Calaeb Campbell likes the way he sees his players improving daily in the practice gym to prepare for the final part of the regular season.

"The girls are staying rooted in the process as they have their eyes set on the weeks to come,' said the second-year coach.

Senior middle blocker Josilyn Wadas is the pulse of the Mustangs' offense with a season hitting percentage at .257.

"She is hungry to help drive her team as we wrap up NSC play," Campbell said. “I truly believe this group has the heart to find success with the matches we have left and into the postseason. I encourage people to not sleep on the Mustangs as their grit and passion for the sport of volleyball is ever growing.”

Maine South update:

Two juniors are leading the Hawks in a big way. Outside hitter Sofia Rossi is a six-rotational player who is leading the team in kills.

She is also second on the team in aces and stepping up in a big way on serve receive as well.

Middle hitter Ana Petridesis a 6-foot-1 threat in the middle who can put a ball down as good as any other middle hitter when the set is there. She leads South in blocking and is also stepping up as one of the team's top servers.

"We are 12-11 at this point of the season," said Hawks coach Kathleen Durkin. "We look forward to trying to win a regional final this year."

Grayslake Central update:

The Rams are off to a 16-10 start despite their roster being composed of a significant amount of sophomores.

"We have a starting libero, middle, outside, right side and setter (runs a 6-2 with a senior setter) who are all sophomores," said coach Arian Colton. "This is a very talented class of volleyball players and while we are having a successful season we definitely have a lot to look forward to in years to come as well."

Rolling Meadows update:

Gabby Zielinski is the first six-rotation right side that the Mustangs (15-11) have put on the floor in many years according to first-year coach Jack Nickle.

"She is contributing greatly with her offense and defense on the right side," Nickle said. "Both of our middles (Mary Hamman and Karolina Dabrowski) have been very efficient offensively (each girls is over .300 hitting since conference play started)."

Julia Ingemunson is also providing steady offense from the outside.

"We can always count on her when we need a kill to terminate a ball for us," Nickle added. "The team has been focusing on demonstrating a consistent high level of play that we have shown we are capable of throughout the year."

Carmel update:

Senior libero and Carmel captain Lisa Swiatkowski has been on a roll. In two matches last week, she had 48 digs, a 2.4 serve receive score, 7 assists and 2 aces.

"The number of digs is impressive enough but it's the timeliness of the digs and the amazing amount of space she covers that makes the plays even more spectacular," said Carmel coach Dave Pazely. "She's the type of player who's just fun to watch."

Senior setter and co-captain Claire Parker has also put up strong numbers. In those same two matches, she had 46 assists, 2 kills, 17 digs and a block.

"That many assists in only two matches means she is consistently connecting with her hitters and moving the ball well to keep our opponents defense off balance," Pazely added. "She has really stepped up her performance these last couple weeks and the whole team has improved as a result."

In a 25-22, 17-25, 25-22 win over Lake Zurich, the Corsairs (9-11, 0-4 in the ESCC) were led by Bella Lucero (8 kills), Reese Wagner (7 kills), Abbey Sullivan (5 blocks), Claire Parker (23 assists) and Isa Swiatkowski (22 digs).

Fremd update:

In a two-set win over Schaumburg, Megan Spiekermann (11 kills), Sasha Sallade (6 kills) and Nina Gray (3) led the Vikings' attack, which received 25 assists from sophomore setter Akshara Jay.

Fremd coach Pete Gavin continues to prepare his team for the postseason.

"We are working on getting healthy and getting ready for state playoffs," he said. "It has been an up and down year for us with many different lineups. I'm hoping we can get things going in the right direction for the playoffs."

Lakes update:

As her team improved to 17-6 and 4-0 in the NLCC, coach Sarah Yeager's junior outside Adey Martin put down 11 kills and 13 digs in a victory over Mundelein and 13 in a win over Marian Central.

Senior setter Katie Mercure had 30 assists vs. Mundelein and 35 assists against Marian Central. Senior libero Lainey Russo recorded 19 digs and 24 digs in the two matches.

"All three have stepped up in a big way for our program and helped drive our success," Yeager said.

Leyden update: Through their first 20 games, junior outside hitter Ulyana Sydorchuk led the Eagles with 108 kills followed by senior OH Priscila Bedoy (60 kills) and junior middle Nicol Bokuniewicz (57 kills).

Junior OH Ulyana Sydorchuk leads with 32 aces while senior libero Maja Krzystofik had 30.

The top blocker was junior middle hitter Nicol Bokuniewicz (36 total blocks).

The Eagles have won six of their last eight.

"We have had an inconsistent season that has started to come together lately," said coach Emmett O'Keefe. "Our captains (Katlyn Marshall-Lang (senior setter), Priscila and Ulyana have all been consistent leaders and players throughout the season. Nicol has been a crucial part of our team offensively and defensively, leading the team in blocks.

"Maja has anchored our defense and serve receive and provided consistency throughout the season. We have three setters (Marshall-Lang, senior Emily Stewart and sophomore Julia Radziszewski) who have all improved tremendously throughout the season and facilitated our offense."

Round Lake update:

Amalinayi Escobedo has led the team in digs this year. "She is a leader and a captain for us," said Panthers coach Grace Larson.

Natalie Mariscal Gomez is the team leader in kills and a six-rotation outside hitter.

"Both of their efforts earned us a win in our game against Zion Benton (last week)," Larson said.

Hoffman Estates update:

The Hawks (20-10) are enjoying their best season since 1991.

Peyton Young leads the team in kills (190).

"Izzy Troyer has stepped up so much with her all-around play and more importantly, her leadership," said Hawks coach Pat Moran. "Phoebe Kim has done a great job setting (411 assists) and Bhavya Muthu has done an outstanding job in the back row."

Ziya Cooks has also emerged as of late as a huge piece on this team. "We look forward to finishing the season strong and carrying this momentum into the postseason," Moran added.

Elk Grove update:

In a span of three matches last week, the Grenadiers received 16 kills (.250) and 8 blocks from freshman middle hitter Angelica Dylag, 2 aces, 12 assists and 53 digs from senior libero Emma Gomez, and 14 kills, 36 digs, 3 aces, and 3 blocks from senior outside Lauren Brunn.

Maine West update:

Maine West coach Nora Feyerer says the Warriors have a lot of potential but are very inconsistent.

"It's been a rollercoaster ride," she said. "We are hoping to continue to work on decreasing our unforced errors and work on executing more. We have made a lot of growth this season, but we have a lot of growth ahead of us."

One player showing growth is junior Paige Foster.

"She is truly a great volleyball player, leader and captain," Feyerer said. "She is really stepping it up and is definitely our go-to hitter. The challenge is we don't always get her the ball enough or the sets aren't always high quality. But when we get her the ball, she does great things with it."

Feyerer likes the team attitude.

"The girls are really nice and are working hard, so we will get there," she added. "It will just take time to develop some consistency before we can compete at a high level. Our team in general is really young (three freshmen and three sophomores who all see court time, three juniors and six seniors)."

Prospect update:

In a big two-set MSL East win over Buffalo Grove, Kate Kulak led the Knights with a season-high 9 kills followed by Alli Linke with 8.

For the season, Linke is leading the team with 139 kills.

Other categorical leaders are Lucy Ross (31 aces and 165 assists), Anna Garland (152 digs) and Abby Samuelson (24 blocks).