High school girls volleyball: Sarah Rose the motor for York volleyball

ELMHURST – Big hitters in volleyball attract a lot of the attention, but it's players like Sarah Rose who literally set up a lot of that success.

York's girls volleyball team has some outstanding hitters, including Alex Preuss and Ally Mann, but Rose is the setter who makes the offense go.

"She has great instincts and she's a great athlete," York head coach Patty Iverson said. "She sees the court and she has a good read on what's going on in the game, so between that I'm just trying to get her to be a really good, disciplined setter. That's what our goal is, and she's doing so many good things in that way.

"I think she's one of the best setters in Illinois this year and she's only a junior."

Rose has been playing volleyball her entire life, and after starting out as a libero, she switched to setter at the insistence of her club coach. From there she refined her skills at the position and landed on York's varsity team as a freshman, an experience that is paying off this season.

"It gives me come confidence knowing what to do, and now I can lead other people because I've been around for so many years," Rose said.

Rose many weapons at her disposal, and she does a good job getting swings for all them. While she makes it look easy, there are several split-second decisions that go into setting up a teammate for a successful attacking swing.

"I definitely look at who's on and who's the hot hitter, but I look at the block on the other side of the net to see who is the weaker blocker and then look who my hitters and see what they like to run and see who to set based off that," Rose said. "Sometimes I know right away who I want to set."

Rose was named tournament MVP at the Benet Invite earlier in the season as the Dukes won the title, and the team recently got a leg up in the West Suburban Silver conference title race with a win against Glenbard West, but the Dukes have bigger goals in mind, and Rose hopes to lead them there.

"We have a saying every year for our team, and this year it's Beat Four, because the farthest we've gone in state is fourth place and we want to beat that, and this year we really think we can," Rose said. "We want to win conference, but we're really hoping to go to state and go far."

Dan Santaromita contributed to this report

FOOTBALL

York

Touchdown runs from Connor Placey and Johnny DiCanio in the first half provided all the offense the Dukes needed in a 24-7 win against Willowbrook on Sept. 25.

Keith Freeman had a TD run in the second half and Matt Wozny hauled in a 50-yard scoring pass from Nicholas Brown to pad the lead in the second half as York improved to 2-3 on the season ahead of a home showdown against undefeated Oak Park-River Forest at 7:30 p.m. on Oct. 2.

IC Catholic

In their first game under the lights at Plunkett Park, the Knights made short work of Aurora Central Catholic in a 41-7 homecoming on Sept. 25 that upped their record to 4-1 overall and 1-0 in the Metro Suburban West.

IC travels to face Riverside Brookfield (5-0, 1-0 MSW) at 7:15 p.m. on Oct. 2 in what is the first game at RB's newly renovated stadium.

Glenbard East

Philip Abruzino threw first-half touchdowns to Travis Lyles and Joey Moore and rushed for the game's first score as the Rams built a 37-0 halftime lead in an eventual 44-14 win against West Chicago on Sept. 25.

Devonta Owens had two TD runs, Conor Glennon and Carrell Wilson combined for a safety, and Orlando Kimbrough had a scoring run late in the game.

The win pushed East's record to 4-1 and 2-0 in the Upstate Eight Valley, and keeps the team on track for a playoff berth. The Rams welcome South Elgin (4-1, 1-0) for a crucial UEV game at 7:30 p.m. on Oct. 2.

Montini

Prince Walker had two touchdown runs and a punt return TD in the first half, Justin Blake threw touchdown passes to Tyler Millikan and Brandon Shilgalis, and Tommy Hyland had a pick-six in the Broncos' 41-0 win against Leo on Sept. 25.

Montini improved to 5-0 on the season before its game against host St. Joseph (1-4) at 7:30 p.m. on Oct. 2.

Willowbrook

Jonathan Kelso's 80-yard touchdown reception from Billy Degnan accounted for Willowbrook's only score in a 24-7 loss against York on Sept. 25.

Degnan passed for 184 yards and Kelso had 115 receiving yards, but the Warriors (2-3) couldn't get the ground game going.

Willowbrook has alternated wins and losses all season and will look to get back on track against host Morton at 7:30 p.m. on Oct. 2.

GIRLS VOLLEYBALL

IC Catholic

The Knights defeated Illiana Christian 26-24, 29-27 in a Metro Suburban Conference crossover on Sept. 29.

Tess Reardon had 13 kills, 16 digs and eight assists, Claudia Koch tallied 12 kills and nine digs, Kerry Mulligan had 18 digs and Molly Fahey dished 16 assists for IC.

Timothy Christian

The Trojans topped Aurora Central Catholic 25-20, 25-13 on Sept. 29.

Dani Van Laten had 17 assists, Kendra Teune (eight kills) and Ava Venema (seven kills) led the attack, and Zoe Stanton and Abby Groters each had nine digs as TC improved to 20-3 overall.

Glenbard East

Allison Farrell and Elin Ream each had five kills and Meghan Wozniak had 11 assists, but the Rams fell 25-19, 25-18 against Geneva on Sept. 29.

Willowbrook

Olivia Pennebaker led the Warriors' attack with 13 kills and Danielle McNamara and Jamie Chiappetta tallied six kills each in a 25-14, 26-24 win against Morton on Sept. 29. Maddie Weinhold (14) and Emily Ligocki (12) each had double digit assists for Willowbrook.

GIRLS TENNIS

Glenbard East

The Rams dropped just six games in a 7-0 win against East Aurora on Sept. 29. Kolie Allen swept 6-0, 6-0 at No. 1 singles, as did Kyah Muntz at No. 3 singles and Stephanie Chlopek and Bailey Ekstrand at No. 1 doubles. Sam Naughton (No. 2 singles) and the doubles teams of Elizabeth Meimer and Shreya Sharma, Abby Hoh and Alex Vargas, and Emma Chvatal and Erin Heniff also won.

BOYS SOCCER

Addison Trail/Willowbrook

The Blazers ended the Warriors nine-game winning streak with a 1-0, double overtime win on Sept. 29. It was AT's fifth straight win.