06.09.2017 Views

NL_090717

The New Lenox Patriot 090717

The New Lenox Patriot 090717

SHOW MORE
SHOW LESS

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

YUMPU automatically turns print PDFs into web optimized ePapers that Google loves.

44 | September 7, 2017 | The New Lenox Patriot Sports<br />

newlenoxpatriot.com<br />

Girls Volleyball<br />

Central’s balanced attack hands Glenbard North its first loss<br />

Knights maintain<br />

momentum following<br />

Silver Division win at<br />

Plainfield North Invite<br />

James Sanchez, Editor<br />

The Knights girls volleyball<br />

team is making up for<br />

lost time.<br />

They spent most of last<br />

season going through the<br />

struggles of gelling with<br />

a team of new faces from<br />

a rival school, new coach<br />

and dealing with the loss of<br />

some of their classmates to<br />

the district boundary shift.<br />

Their full potential was finally<br />

showcased when they<br />

upset No. 5-seed Joliet<br />

Catholic at last year’s regional<br />

semifinal — all the<br />

way at the end of the season.<br />

However, the takeaway of<br />

last fall was the realization<br />

of how good the girls can<br />

really be. And that was the<br />

mindset before heading into<br />

the new season with its core<br />

players returning.<br />

“It was a little bit of a<br />

struggle because of the transitional<br />

year,” said coach<br />

Mary Brown, admitting<br />

some of the team were unable<br />

to grasp what she required<br />

of them. “This year,<br />

the girls knew what to do,<br />

we worked out all summer,<br />

and they understand what<br />

I expect out of them, and<br />

these are the girls that are<br />

willing to give it.”<br />

And the girls know what<br />

to expect out of themselves,<br />

too. This has all translated<br />

to a complete turnaround to<br />

start of the 2017 campaign.<br />

The momentum didn’t stop<br />

when they coasted past<br />

Glenbard North 25-19, 25-9<br />

after a 40-mile trek to Carol<br />

Stream on Aug. 28.<br />

The dual-setter attack,<br />

which Central employed<br />

Lincoln-Way Central setter/outside Kylie Kulinski serves<br />

the ball Aug. 28 during a game against Glenbard North in<br />

Carol Stream. Photos by James Sanchez/22nd Century Media<br />

last season, was effective<br />

again with Kylie Kulinski<br />

(12 assists) and Cassidy<br />

Wyman (11 assists) nearly<br />

tying in passing stats.<br />

The Panthers (2-1), which<br />

came into the home matchup<br />

undefeated, stayed close<br />

through the early stages of<br />

Set 1 before Kulinski set<br />

Wyman and Hannah Stacy<br />

up for back-to-back kills,<br />

followed up by another kill<br />

by Wyman to break open<br />

the 9-9 tie and never look<br />

back.<br />

“We started out sluggish,”<br />

Brown said. “Granted it’s a<br />

Monday and the long drive,<br />

but I like that they kept<br />

fighting. I liked that we put<br />

it together. Unforced errors-wise,<br />

we were plus-10<br />

(first set) and plus-3, which<br />

means that we made them<br />

earn more than we gave<br />

them. So, I was happy we<br />

were able to play smart, and<br />

we kept up and built up our<br />

energy and didn’t give in.”<br />

Seven of the 25 points<br />

in Set 1 were scored when<br />

Wyman was serving. Fittingly,<br />

an ace from the senior<br />

standout sealed the first set,<br />

and the momentum carried<br />

over in the second where the<br />

Knights went wire to wire.<br />

Libero Lucy Chesla (4 digs)<br />

put the second frame out of<br />

reach when the team scored<br />

nine straight points from her<br />

serve to put the Panthers in<br />

their biggest deficit, down<br />

15-3. Three of her four aces<br />

came in that span.<br />

Sophomore middle Layne<br />

Stevens led the way with<br />

five kills. Wyman was right<br />

behind with four, and Kulinski<br />

had three. That balanced<br />

effort is what to expect from<br />

the Knights all season.<br />

“I don’t have any goto’s;<br />

I don’t have any big<br />

hitters,” Brown said. “It’s<br />

no secret. We just have to<br />

play scrappy, and we have<br />

to play smart, and the girls<br />

understand that. That’s the<br />

way we’ve been successful,<br />

and we got to keep that up.”<br />

(Left to right) Kylie Kulinski, Michelle Burk and Morgan Markus survey the Panthers’<br />

offensive set up before the serve.<br />

Megan Barry gets in position to receive a serve.<br />

The win moves the<br />

Knights to 6-1 on the season,<br />

with the only loss<br />

coming against nationally<br />

ranked Marist at the Plainfield<br />

North Invitational Aug.<br />

25-26. The loss moved them<br />

to the Silver Division of the<br />

tournament, and there, they<br />

bounced back to win that<br />

bracket, capping it off with<br />

a three-set win over Lockport<br />

25-19, 23-25, 25-18.<br />

Now a year under<br />

Brown’s system and tutelage,<br />

Kulinski said the team<br />

is more comfortable and<br />

playing more freely, instead<br />

of overthinking during<br />

games, which has attributed<br />

to the hot start.<br />

“This year, we’re a completely<br />

different team, and<br />

everyone has a lot of energy,”<br />

Kulinski said. “People<br />

are positive, and people are<br />

doing their part.”

Hooray! Your file is uploaded and ready to be published.

Saved successfully!

Ooh no, something went wrong!