After a season in which the girls volleyball team came in fourth at State, the Cats are looking at a tough road to get back. There are only six girls returning to varsity this year from the 2012 State team. Although there are six returnees, only three logged serious playing time as starters from last year: junior Alex Basler and seniors Rhiannon Prentiss and Vicky Liu.
The 2012 version of the team included four girls who are now playing Division I volleyball (Taylor Zant, Drake; Julia Smagacz, Akron; Kristin Webb, Butler; Cindy Zhou, Michigan). The biggest hole that the seniors left was their height. Although Basler has some serious height, listed at 6’2”, the rest of the team is lacking the height advantage that gave the Cats a big leg up on their opponent.
“We are a shorter team,” head coach Greg Loika said. “We need to be more creative on attack.”
Basler agrees the team lacks the physical presence that the 2012 team had, but they make up for it in intangibles. “We’re a lot scrappier,” she says. “We don’t rely on our height as much as we did last year.”
Part of being scrappy is having long points, but just stretching out the point is not the whole story; winning the long points and wearing down the opponents have been a staple of the 2013 Wildcats. The ability to lengthen points and win them is made possible by having a great defense, which, similar to last year, is a key to the Wildcats in their bid for achieving postseason success this year.
A crucial aspect of the Cats’ offense and defense is their communication. Since not all of the players have been on the same team for several years and and are still gaining a feel for each other’s playing style, it is important for everyone on the court to speak up.
Passing has also become emphasized even more this year because good passing will open up easy shots, similar to the easy points that height can gain.
Serving will be the other key because it is something that is completely under the control of the team. Although there is nothing that can be done about their height or another team’s skill, unforced errors will very quickly sink a team.
While the team often feels the sting of losing a class of seniors that featured two All-State players, veterans of the team took away valuable lessons about how to succeed at a high level.
“They were all committed and were all really good leaders,” Basler stated. The leadership role has fallen largely on Basler and fellow captains, seniors Prentiss and Cassie Ostmeyer, all of whom are returning players from the State team.
The trio of captains has provided strong leadership this year. Basler is a player that the rest of the team looks up to, both literally and figuratively (she has generated interest from schools such as the University of Columbia, Cornell University, and Harvard University). At games, all you have to do is look to the front of the net and there will be Basler waiting to put the ball down on the ten-foot line, the line between the front and the back defenders, which is a common target for middles like Basler. Basler is also a good teammate, though, because she is great at being a decoy on sets, and someone with her skill set will surely gain the attention of her opponents.
Ostmeyer provides infectious enthusiasm and experience as a second-year captain. Prentiss is a very powerful hitter and she is able to make the big plays when needed. Prentiss is helpful to the team as a very consistent player, someone who cares about her teammates both on and off the court, and a positive role model for younger players on the team.
“If someone says get the nets set up, she [Prentiss] is out there setting up the nets…she leads by example,” Ostmeyer said of her co-captain.
However, with a team that returns such few members, the inexperienced Cats have had to turn to others to step up and play an integral role for the team also. An important player has been freshman Morgan O’Brien, the starting libero. As libero, O’Brien does not play the front line; she stays in the back line and uses her passes and serves to be a huge part of the 2013 Cats. With questions looming heading into the season, the freshman came in and showed her skills right away.
Both the varsity rookies and veterans will have to work together as the team looks at a tough road back to Bloomington, where the state finals are hosted.The Cats will have to make sure they stay the course after a loss to the number one team in the conference, Lake Zurich, on September 17. Because each team only plays each other once in conference, Libertyville will be looking for help from another team in the conference to knock off the Bears. For all that the Cats lost to LZ, wins against Lake Forest and rival Stevenson keep LHS in second place for conference and within striking distance of Lake Zurich, which would help the Cats achieve one of their loftiest pre-season goals: winning the conference title.
“Only playing each team once, which is different from other sports, makes every conference game so important in the season,” Loika said.
A conference title is just the beginning of a grueling postseason. The next stops on the way to State begin with regionals, followed by sectionals, supersectionals, and eventually the Final Four in state. In the meantime, the Cats are focused on the conference schedule in the more immediate future. While the brunt of the conference schedule is in the books, October welcomes a demanding stretch where seven of the eight games are on the road.
“We’re growing together as a team, and we’re going to do bigger and better things as we go on,” Ostmeyer said confidently.
While this year’s team may lack it, the Wildcats plan to reach new heights this season.
