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LakeForestLeaderDaily.com sports
the lake forest leader | November 14, 2019 | 29
Girls Volleyball Coach of the Year
Rupnik leads Scouts to 28 wins,
regional title in first season
Girls Volleyball Player of the Year
Thrash’s consistent play guides
Scouts to turnaround season
Nick Frazier, Sports Editor
A former defensive specialist
and team captain at
Lake Forest College, Tia
Rupnik excelled at preparing
for what opposing
teams would do. Knowing
what to expect and reacting
accordingly is a crucial
part of the position.
Yet Rupnik admitted she
didn’t know what to expect
in her first season as
head coach of the Scouts.
“If you were to ask me
before the season started
what I thought our record
would be, I wouldn’t have
even known what to guess
at the time,” Rupnik said.
After totaling just 22
wins in two seasons, Lake
Forest rebounded with
Rupnik at the helm in
2019. The Scouts went
28-9, competed well in
weekend tournaments and
capped the season off with
a regional title. The turnaround
campaign was more
than enough for Rupnik
to earn 22nd Century Media’s
2019 Girls Volleyball
Coach of the Year honor.
Rupnik served as the
Scouts’ assistant coach for
two seasons before taking
over as head coach this
year. Yet the Wisconsin native
is quick to credit Lake
Forest’s seven seniors for
the successful season.
“I think that our senior
class this year just really
stepped it up, everyone really
just bought in to the
concept of the team, which
was awesome,” Rupnik
said. “That had a huge part
on us having success in
terms of wins and losses,
but then also just us really
enjoying our time together
as a team.”
Scouts head coach Tia Rupnik (back row, far left) with
her team after the Scouts won the Hoffman Estates
tournament in September. Photo submitted
This year’s edition of the
Scouts were more versatile,
which made life easier for
Rupnik in her first season.
She could flip her outside
and right-side hitters to
defender different hitters
when necessary, a component
that the team didn’t
have in the past.
The most notable difference
this season was the
scouting, as Rupnik, assistant
coach Ray Werner
and the team committed to
studying film.
“We scouted pretty
much every team that we
played against this year,”
Rupnik said. “We scouted
other teams, we spent a
lot of time looking at ourselves
and trying to learn
from film, and that played
a huge role in us learning
and being more prepared
in our matches. I also think
for our girls, it just helped
them mentally, just feeling
more confident in what
they needed to do in matches
to find success.”
Led by superb outside
hitters Alyssa Thrash and
Caroline Graham, the
Scouts got off to a 9-1 start,
winning a tournament in
Hoffman Estates during
that stretch. Even when
Lake Forest picked up a
loss here and there, Rupnik
said she felt her team could
get the win if it had a second
chance.
Once Lake Forest placed
second in the Antioch Invitational
on Oct. 12, Rupnik
knew the Scouts could
compete with anyone.
“We had a really competitive
end of our season,
we saw Loyola, Libertyville,
Stevenson all in a
row,” Rupnik said. “We
ended on some really
tough matches. I feel like
after that [Antioch] tournament
is really where I felt
confident that we really
can compete at the same
level as these next three
teams that we’re about to
see. Despite only beating
Stevenson out of those
three, I think we learned so
much from those matches,
which helped us prepare
just in time getting into the
regional matches.”
According to Rupnik,
the team’s theme this year
was that the sun rises every
day. It’s what the coach
told her players after the
sunrise run on Lake Forest
Please see COY, 27
Nick Frazier, Sports Editor
When Alyssa Thrash
transferred to Lake Forest
High School from Georgia
before her sophomore
year, then-assistant coach
Tia Rupnik couldn’t help
but notice Thrash’s natural
leadership qualities.
“I couldn’t believe how
strong of an athlete she
was, but also how strong
of a leader,” Rupnik recalled.
“Any time that
Alyssa wasn’t on the court,
which was rare, it was very
obvious because she has
such an important voice on
the court.”
Thrash, a 6-foot outside
hitter, continued to hone
NORTH SHORE
her leadership skills and
her on-court game while
with the Scouts. The result?
Captaining Lake Forest
to a regional title and
being named this year’s
22nd Century Media Girls
Volleyball Player of the
Year.
An All-North Suburban
Conference selection as a
junior a year ago, Thrash
was one of 10 athletes to
return from last season’s
Scouts team. There was a
lot of continuity for Lake
Forest this season, and that
made Thrash’s job as captain
much easier.
“It just really helped us,
being really close on and
off the court,” Thrash said.
FIND THE VARSITY: NORTH SHORE ON
SOUNDCLOUD, ITUNES OR LAKEFORESTLEADER.COM/SPORTS
A 22ND CENTURY MEDIA PRODUCTION
Lake Forest senior Alyssa
Thrash is 22nd Century
Media’s 2019 Girls
Volleyball Player of the
Year. 22nd Century Media
file photo
“We spent a lot of time together
all the time, I think
Please see POY, 27
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