September 2017

7 sports September 25, 2017
W
Primed to face conference foe
Glenbrook North for the second time
this season, the Warriors take on the
Spartans tonight at 6 p.m. to kick off
homecoming week. After winning the
last face-off, the girls look to add another
win to their 7-3 record to take
them into their Highland Park match
on Wednesday.
The girls lost to the Spartans twice
last year. Like their match earlier this
year, those went three games. Coming
close and then winning against
accomplished conference foes has the
team feeling optimistic.
Defeating Glenbrook North
“showed us how well we can play as
a unit,” junior Yesenia Santiago said.
“We’re looking to return the favor
and take them in both matches this
year, 2-0.”
The Warriors’ main goal is to win
conference. The last time a girls volleyball
team won conference was in
2006. “I honestly think we can win,”
returning junior Reilly Olson said.
“We have the right blend of talent,
skill, and experience.”
Winning seven games at this point
has been a major improvement for the
girls from the last two seasons. “The
girls are buying into [our program]
now,” asst. coach Nick Limjoco said,
“We went through a rebuilding phase
last year, and this year almost everyone
is returning and knows what they
have to accomplish.”
Senior Amanda Grzebien sees
winning conference as an opportunity
to “put all that I’ve worked on
these past three years to the test one
last time.”
With multiple seniors and juniors
who began their varsity careers as
sophomores, the varsity team is loaded
with experience, with new sophomores
taking those old spots.
“[This mix of grades] is fun because
you understand them and you
get a connection with them, and as
a senior, it’s fulfilling to teach people
what I learned when I was in their
spot,” senior three-time returning varsity
player Sophia Saldaña explained.
Despite having multiple of these
talented all-conference players returning
and having a solid 6-2 formation,
the girls attribute their success
to a newly-developed “family vibe.”
Closer than ever, the girls hope the
new bonds translate to success on the
court.
“The atmosphere has been improving
the past few years; we went
from having a very negative feeling
amongst our team when it came
to how we would do,” Saldaña said.
“Last year, the negativity went away,
but we didn’t get along great, and this
year both of those things are gone,
and we get along and keep a really
upbeat atmosphere.”
The girls have gone to a Northwestern
volleyball game, gone out for
DANNY FOWLER
Senior Jessica Reidl gets ready to spike the ball off a set from junior Christiana Kolosvary against
Naperville North on Sept. 15. in the Warriors’ 2-1 win.
SETTING UP FOR CONFERENCE WIN
BY AMAAN SIDDIQUI
sports editor
breakfast and done many other different
team building exercises in order to
improve performance by establishing
a strong connection between players.
“I’m not sure if there’s a direct relationship,
but I baked cookie brownies
before we played Leyden and we
ended up winning in two games:
25-11 and 25-9,” sophomore Angela
Dugalic said.
Saldaña says that this new atmosphere
is due to a supportive bench,
which hasn’t been a recurrent theme
throughout the past few seasons.
“Our bench is our second group of
Superfans; they’re always trying to be
positive and push us forward by being
crazy.”
Aside from the connection and
the well-blended talent, the girls
credit much of their success to their
fans. “While not having nearly as big
of a fan base as football, the fans that
do come are very spirited and it gets
you excited when you play,” Grzebien
said.
Hoping to hear more screams and
hollers at their homecoming game
against the Spartans, the Warriors are
looking to fill the stands with blue,
gold, and crazy to help them over the
edge.
“You’d never know how fun it is to
watch and feel the atmosphere of our
games until you walk into the gym,”
Olson said.
Swim
Cure
for
a
BY DESTINY ONYEISE
AND NANA AGYARKO
reporters
Using its annual “Swim for a Cure”
event this weekend to raise money for
breast cancer research, girls swim will
compete against Niles North, Niles
West, St. Viator, Marist and Wheeling
at 8 a.m. this Saturday at home.
“This is [our] eighth year and
through our proceeds we’ve usually
raised $1,500-3,000 per year.
This year we’re just shy of $2,500.
The money will go to the American
Cancer Society to raise awareness for
breast cancer while having a fun, yet
competitive meet,” girls swim coach
Ryan Claus said.
The Warriors have a chance at winning
some of the events at the “Swim
for a Cure” meet. “As far as how they
will place or us as a team, we will have
to see. We always step up and swim
really well at this meet. I’m excited for
it,” Claus said.
There are many swimmers who
have shown improvements in their
times so far this season and hope those
will translate into the meet on Saturday.
“Anastasiya Sahayda is swimming
really well. She swam faster in the 100
fly than she did last year. Sophomore
Katelyn Weber has swam faster than
last year as well, in the 100 butterfly
and 100 backstroke, ” Claus said.
As a captain, senior Nina Martin
plans to instill in her younger teammates
the importance of practicing
and swimming outside of school, and
she hopes to encourage her teammates
to join the summer league.
Claus also mentioned that regardless
of the experience of the swimmers,
his main focus this year is to work on
individual improvements and to develop
and enhance their cardiovascular
endurance. “My philosophy here is
that we work on improvement within
our program. It’s really kind of unfair
to compare ourselves to other programs.
I do my best with the program
that we have and we move forward,”
Claus said.
The unity of the team is fortified
by the team bonding throughout the
season, making competing less challenging
and less stressful. “We are
cohesive as a team and are all friends,
which makes it easier,” senior captain
Kasey Connor said.