Yorkville riding high to start season

Updated: September 6, 2011 7:54PM

Mike Dunn thought his Yorkville volleyball team would be much improved this season, but even he wouldn’t have gone so far as to predict the 8-0 start they had heading into Tuesday night’s home match with Dixon.

“We thought we were gonna be pretty decent,” he said. “I think we had a good year last year (going 15-16) after struggling the two years before that.”

Even so, when junior outside hitter Brittany Straznickas, who had 176 kills last year, decided to focus on soccer instead of coming out for volleyball, Dunn wasn’t sure what to expect.

“We just have girls, though, that have stepped up their games,” he said. “(Straznickas) is definitely a great girl and a pretty good soccer player, too. We just had to make up for (the loss) and we’ve had go-to hitters step up and other girls take on new roles. We’re excited.”

A key returnee taking on new responsibility has been Rebecca Nauman. The 5-foot-10 junior setter who had 433 assists last season, has taken on a new role, switching to hitter when she’s in the front row as the Foxes have moved from a 5-1 attack to a 6-2 setup.

“She does a great job and is the face of our program,” said Dunn. “She has a great work ethic. She’s never hit before, even in club ball, but has handled it well and has become a pretty good hitter.”

Filling their roles

Yorkville junior Nikki Fulco has stepped in as the team’s second setter and has done well. Senior Jordan Dhuse has moved from right side to outside hitter and junior Julia Craig is handling the other outside hitter role even though she’s not 100 percent.

“She’s coming off shoulder surgery having torn her labrum in club ball and having the surgery in February,” said Dunn. “She’s not swinging at 100 percent but she’s still done a very good job.”

Senior libero is back to quarterback the defense and newcomers Lindsay Kring and Alex Jesen have done well stepping up in the middle.

Tournament time

The Foxes will be tested this weekend when they host the eight-team Yorkville Invitational. The hosts will meet Lisle, Joliet West and Plainfield South when they open Red Pool play at 9 a.m. The White pool consists of Plainfield North, Oswego, Streator and Sandwich.

At the conclusion of pool play, the top two teams in each pool will meet for the title, the No. 2s will meet and right on down the line. Title match should start at about 4 p.m.

“Lisle is off to a great start like us, Joliet West is much improved and Plainfield South should be pretty good, too,” said Dunn.

Hitting the beach

Aurora Central junior Ally Kane teamed up with Molly Leech of Crystal Lake in late summer to tie for fifth place in the two-girl Junior Olympic U16 Beach Volleyball competition in New Orleans. They earned the eighth-place medal based on tie-breakers.

Both players train with Team One in Aurora.

Mission accomplished

Batavia coach Lori Trippi-Payne got what she wanted by moving her team to last weekend’s Geneva Tournament for the first time. The Bulldogs won two of three pool play matches (losing to eventual champ Joliet Catholic), lost to Geneva in a semifinal then beat Morris for third place.

“To win three matches, considering the level of competition in our pool and the fact that our setter, Mary Nilles, battled through the stomach flu all day, was a credit to our team and their determination to keep fighting,” said Trippi-Payne.

“Our team is still experiencing some growing pains, but the competitive level of this tournament definitely helped us.”

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