High school girls volleyball: Glenbard East's Allison Farrell has family help to get ready for next level

LOMBARD – Allison Farrell’s dream was to play Big Ten volleyball and she knew she was going to have to switch from outside hitter to libero to reach that dream.

In order to help her with the position move, Farrell enlisted the help of someone close to her – her older brother Joey.

Joey Farrell was a star outside hitter at Glenbard East who graduated in 2013. With a 6-foot-5 frame, a big wingspan and good leaping ability, Joey was one of the hardest hitters in the state during his high school career. He played a year at Penn State before focusing on academics at the university.

So when he took some swings to toughen up his little sister, it was fantastic practice.

“I was in the gym four times a week this summer and he was just smacking balls at me,” Allison said. “I had bruises all over. I was like, ‘Just keep ’em coming!’”

Allison still plays outside hitter for the Rams, but switched to libero last year for her club team at Sports Performance. The nationally acclaimed team travels around the country regularly and she was impressive enough to be able to commit to Penn State in June.

The Nittany Lions won their seventh national title last season and are undefeated and ranked No. 1 in the country so far this season. That means getting on the court won’t be easy.

“It’s a huge program, I’m so excited,” she said. “It’s going to be a challenge. I knew committing to there it is going to be a challenge, but I’m so excited.”

Volleyball being a family affair for the Farrells is nothing new. Allison is the youngest of four siblings, all of whom played at Glenbard East. Older sister Ashley and older brother Kevin played collegiately at Carthage.

Allison’s three siblings all played as hitters in college. At 5-foot-9, she was likely going to have to play at the Division III level to remain a hitter in college. However, her ambitions were bigger than that and moving to libero gives her a chance to play elite college volleyball.

“I wanted to play Big Ten, that was my huge thing,” Allison said. “I wanted to play for a really good college and I knew with my height I wasn’t going to be able to play to the standards I wanted to play with my position.”

The move to libero on the club level has been an adjustment, but she has always been a full rotation player for Glenbard East.

“She’s our best serve receiver and one of our best defensive players,” coach Marci Maier said. “She’s just had so many repetitions and she’s just been playing for so long. She’s very experienced and is doing a great job for us defensively.”

In her final year with Glenbard East, Farrell is hoping to make her last season as a hitter a good one. The Rams improved to 11-11 overall and 3-0 in the Upstate Eight Valley with a 25-16, 25-10 win against South Elgin on Sept. 22. East is in the middle of a winning stretch after a 5-9 start.

“I would like to be somewhere other than 11-11, but we play good defense and our offense is coming around,” Maier said. “Our goal is always to peak at the end of the season and if losing some games now at the beginning of the season is what gets us to be more determined at the end of the season and be able to push through at the end of the season, then sometimes your greatest teachers are losses.”