Stay Connected with YourSeason
Grayslake Central’s Basierak bounces back
Grayslake Central's Klaudia Basierak (4) during the first game of Thursday evening's match against Grayslake North. Grayslake Central won the match, 25-18, 25-17. | Brian O'Mahoney~for Sun-Times Media
Updated: September 22, 2011 9:48PM
Being a three-year varsity starter for Grayslake Central’s girls volleyball team, normally a player as talented as Klaudia Basierak would be hyped up for her senior season.
But the 6-foot-1 outside hitter came into the 2011 campaign with plenty of question marks — including how she would bounce back from last November’s major knee surgery (ACL).
Also, Basierak would be playing this season with a Grayslake Central team loaded with underclassmen and short on experience, as the Rams feature a starting lineup with four sophomores.
So far, Basierak and Grayslake Central have answered all those questions with positive results, as the young Rams own a 16-7 overall record and a 4-2 mark in the Fox Valley Conference Fox Division after Thursday’s two-game victory over rival Grayslake North.
As she has many times this season, Basierak pounded down a team-high nine kills to lead the Rams to Thursday’s win. More importantly, she has been a vocal leader for the underclassmen since practice began.
“Klaudia knew that getting the younger girls to learn that they could be a pretty good team even though they didn’t have much varsity experience was going to be a big part of our success,” said Grayslake Central coach Jason Janczak. “So she kept the team up emotionally when they got down at times early in the season. She’s a been a great leader for us.”
Basierak knows that team chemistry is important in all sports.
“I’ve been on some teams before that didn’t get along, and things didn’t go very well,” she said. “Even though we have a lot of young girls on this year’s team, we will get along on and off the court, and that makes a big difference.
“If you don’t have good team chemistry, you usually don’t have a good team.”
Despite having four sophomores — setter Meghan Brewster, outside hitter Gabi Casper and middle hitters Alex Dahlstrom and Anna Basten — in key roles this season for the Rams, Basierak and the rest of her teammates don’t want to use youth as an excuse for losing.
“These girls are talented and can play,” she said. “I’m not surprised that we are doing so well once we learned to play together.”
There was no question that Basierak was going to make a strong return in her senior season, even after suffering an ACL injury at the end of a First-Team All-Lake County season as a junior last November at the Crosstown Classic.
“Klaudia worked so hard to get back, and maybe she even came back too soon, but that’s the kind of athlete she is,” said Janczak. “I’ve never had a player here at Grayslake make such an amazing effort to be ready for the season after suffering the kind of injury she did.”
Basierak says there is still work to do in order to get 100 percent back to her form from her junior season.
“My vertical jumping still needs to improve, but I can feel it getting better and better with each match,” she said. “(The knee) does bother me sometimes, but it feels a lot better when we are winning.”
Grayslake Central has been winning with help from Basierak’s strong mental makeup.
“It just seems like she wills the other girls to raise the level of their play on the court,” said Janczak. “That’s the type of player she is and the type of person she is. I can’t say enough good things about Klaudia — I’m so proud of her.”
Basierak is still fielding offers from colleges hoping to land her services once she finishes her high school season and then competes for a club team this winter.
“I been contacted by some schools, but I know I’m still not at my best yet, so I want to be able to show colleges what I can do when I’m all the way back,” she said. “Right now, I’m focusing on helping this team finish the season strong and make a big run in the state playoffs.”
© 2012 Sun-Times Media, LLC. All rights reserved. This material may not be copied or distributed without permission. For more information about reprints and permissions, visit www.suntimesreprints.com. To order a reprint of this article, click here.
Cell Phone Alerts
Comments Click here to view or make a comment