NewsTribune volleyball notebook: ‘Weird’ for Kaitlyn Edgcomb to face alma mater, former coach

First-year St. Bede coach Kaitlyn Edgcomb had a strange experience Sept. 24.

Edgcomb coached against her alma mater, Putnam County, and her high school coach, Amy Bell.

“It’s weird, but it’s super nice to see everyone,” Edgcomb said. “It’s a good time. It’s lighthearted.”

Edgcomb, who led the Bruins to a 25-11, 25-20 win over the Panthers, said Bell was an influence on her getting into coaching.

“I always say I miss having Amy as a coach,” Edgcomb said. “I really do take a lot of her coaching style with me to how I’ve been coaching. She’s really kind of guided me from the start.”

Bell said she’s glad to see former players getting into the coaching profession.

“Kaitlyn’s done a really nice job with the program,” Bell said. “It’s cool to see kids who I have coached come back and give back to the game.”

ROAD WARRIORS

La Salle-Peru has played 20 matches so far this season, and only two of them have been at L-P’s A.J. Sellett Gymnasium.

The Cavaliers have handled the extended time away from home well, going 8-0 in road matches and 9-1 in neutral-site tournament matches.

L-P (19-1), which won its first two home matches, returned home Tuesday for the first time in almost a month to play rival Ottawa. The Cavs’ last home match was Sept. 5.

L-P will play five of its last seven nontournament matches at home, including three straight to end the regular season.

BOUNCING BACK

Hall went through a lull recently as the Red Devils went 2-5 from Sept. 10-23, but coach Carolyn Foster said she feels the team is bouncing back.

The Red Devils, who are 12-10-2 overall and 2-3 in the Three Rivers Conference East Division after going 8-20-1 overall and winless in the conference last season, placed second in the Reed-Custer Invitational over the weekend.

“We have a great group of girls this year,” Foster said. “We had a little dip, but we seem to be getting back on track. [Our team] puts in the work during practice times.

“The best thing I can say about our team is that we don’t have just one girl who carries us. All of the girls step up. If one is having a bad night, they work hard to build her up again.

“It has been so fun watching these girls grow as individuals and as a team. I can’t wait to see what the rest of the season has in store for us.”

GIVING BACK

Putnam County held a Volley for Hope match earlier this season.

The Panthers collected 91 Lego sets to donate to the Children’s Hospital of Illinois and raised $1,946 for St. Jude.

PUTTING IT DOWN

Mendota junior Laylie Denault has put down more kills this season than anyone else in the area.

Denault has slammed down 115 kills in 39 sets, an average of four kills per set, which is 0.7 per set better than second-place Harper Schrock of Henry-Senachwine.