Girls volleyball: Glenbard West claims at least share of conference crown

Freshman setter Cara Herbert rarely watched Glenbard West girls volleyball matches last season but the lineup and reputation were quite familiar.

Sister Avery, a senior, is among Cara’s new and numerous veteran varsity teammates.

“A little bit of pressure just to carry on and do well with all of them but they’re so nice and they all help me out. They’re very supportive to me,” Cara Herbert said. “I knew most of the people, so I knew that they were really good but I didn’t know we’d be this good. We lived up to the standards so it’s going pretty well.”

The Hilltoppers continued to find winning combinations Tuesday. They beat Lyons Township 25-23, 25-19 in Glen Ellyn to secure a share of their second straight West Suburban Conference Silver championship.

Glenbard West (24-2, 5-0 in Silver) will take the title outright by winning at seventh-place Proviso West on Oct. 17. It’s the program’s first back-to-back conference titles since 2015-16.

Seniors Marin Johnson and Avery Herbert have been on varsity since they were freshmen.

“It’s literally amazing. We’ve got some new parts on the team but we’ve got Avery over here [still]. We’re just really excited and super pumped for the postseason,” Johnson said. “We are a tough team and one of the words that we’ve used to describe ourselves is resilient. I think our team is really strong as a whole.”

Johnson struck from everywhere, collecting 10 kills with no errors in the front row and 10 digs and 11 service points with two aces in the back.

Avery Herbert had 10 kills and five digs and Cara Herbert had 20 assists, five digs and four kills. Other contributors included libero Penelope Vilkama (11 digs), Kayla Street (four blocks), Breccan Scheck and Ivy Toth (three kills each) and Kate Harvey (five points).

“I’ll be anywhere they need me to be,” Johnson said, jokingly. “If they need me to play libero, I’ll play libero. I don’t think they’d ever make me do that, but if they needed me to, I would.”

Three straight Johnson kills opened a 16-14 lead in the second set. The Hilltoppers had their first match point at 24-17 on an Avery Herbert kill assisted by Cara.

“I thought it was good [adding Cara this season], especially since our setter [Haydon Green] graduated,” Avery Herbert said. “It’s just nice to have her be a part of the team and it’s good to have some family. It’s fun. We work well together.”

With a victory, Lyons (21-5, 3-2) could have created a potential three-way title tie along with Oak Park-River Forest (21-5, 4-1). Glenbard West edged the Huskies 25-16, 9-25, 25-23 on Oct. 3.

Lyons senior setter Abby Markworth had 15 assists and six digs. Other standouts included Grace Turner (6 kills), libero Kiley Mahoney (9 digs, 6 points), Alita Folkening (6 blocks), Maggie Kachmarik (6 points) and Taylor Carroll and Annabelle Montgomery (4 kills each).

The Lions led 15-9 in the first set and 12-9 in the second.

“I was really happy with the way we came out firing in the first set. And then the second set we just fell flat,” Lyons coach Jill Bober said. “We lost a lot of the energy we had in the first set, the energy we typically have. There was definitely a puzzle piece missing there.”

In the first set, the Hilltoppers overcame a slow start with eight kills but had nine attack errors.

Johnson served five straight points to put the Hilltoppers ahead 21-18, three of them coming on Avery Herbert kills. Herbert later converted set point off serve receive.

“I feel like we had more confidence [to win the Silver] than we did last year,” Avery Herbert said. “It’s very fun that we have so many familiar faces. We all played together in middle school. We’re all just very close and when we are doing well, everyone feels a part of the team and can celebrate in their own way.”