Steady, fun-loving Sierks sets tone for Lake Forest

It’s vintage Heidi Sierks.

The Lake Forest High senior setter delivers a textbook pass in a volleyball match. A hitter smacks it … wide.

Or long.

Sierks, worried and determined, approaches hitter and asks: “Was my set off?”

Scouts senior outside hitter Tori Lanzillotti, for one, has heard the question between points.

Lanzillotti, a captain like Sierks, has had to assure Sierks, let her know the set was fine.

“That’s Heidi; that’s the way she is,” Lanzillotti said. “She’s thinking about her teammates, at all times. She wants to do everything, anything, to help us, to make things easier for us.

“Her sets … off?” she added. “No. We know what’s coming, because Heidi is so consistent and such a great setter.”

Setter is the perfect volleyball position for Sierks, all set to set for UC-San Diego’s women’s squad, beginning next fall. A setter doesn’t get much glory (that’s fine with her), even though an 11-3 team like Lake Forest wouldn’t be close to an 11-3 team without Sierks’ steady sets.

“Heidi, as an athlete, is really quick, gets to a lot of balls,” said LF coach Ray Werner. “All over the floor — she’s all over it, because of her speed. Heidi, the person? Charismatic, genuinely good-hearted, playful at times, and full of energy. So full of energy. People want to hang out with her.”

People like Marv and Christine Gerber, who were dear friends of Sierks’ grandparents, Jerry and Betty Nolan. The Nolans passed away.

“Marv and Christine — they took over my grandparents’ roles after my grandparents died,” Sierks said. “Marv watched my mom (Julia) grow up. He and Christine … they mean a ton to me.”

They’re regulars at LF volleyball matches.

Looking for Marv in the stands?

Listen for the, “I … love … volleyball!”

That’s Marv’s favorite declaration.

It’s likely been said, as well, at the Sierks’ home. Countless times. Heidi’s brothers, Erik (LFHS Class of 2006) and Mike (LFHS, ’08), played prep volleyball and hit the courts for UC-San Diego. Erik, a setter, played four seasons for the Tritons; Mike, a libero, suited up in one. Both are engineering majors.

Heidi’s future coach at UC-SD?

Ricci Luyties, a former setter.

But not just any setter.

He played alongside a couple of fellas named Karch Kiraly and Steve Timmons.

Sound familiar?

It should. Luyties, a four-time NCAA champion at UCLA, set for Kiraly and Timmons at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Korea. They all had to bow afterward — for gold medals.

Sierks attended the past two UC-SD summer camps.

“I’m really looking forward to playing there,” said Sierks, a member of Rolling Thunder’s national runner-up team (Blue 16) at the 2010 USA Volleyball Championships in Reno, Nev. “I like (Luyties’) setting philosophy; he believes, strongly, that you shouldn’t always have to rely on one setting technique in a match. The best part of setting is that when you do it right, you make a teammate happy.”

Lanzillotti, a couple of years before she and Sierks became teammates at LFHS, broke bread (cookies, actually) with her future setter for the first time in middle school.

“It was lunch period, and I saw Heidi sitting in the cafeteria,” Lanzillotti recalled. “I sat with her. I remember that day pretty clearly. We ate chocolate chip and sugar cookies; they were good, so good … and gooey. What I also remember about that day was Heidi, and how open of a person she was. How fun she was. How friendly she was to me. Just like she is now. When you meet Heidi, you find out — pretty quickly — she wants to get to know you better.”

That’s Heidi.

That’s the way she is.

Recap: LF lost to eventual champion Maine South 25-17, 8-25, 25-22 in a semifinal at Saturday’s Maine East Blue Demon Invite in Park Ridge.

The Scouts went 4-1 at the two-day tourney, including 2-0 against Oak Forest. LF downed OF 25-18, 25-16 in the match for third place on Saturday. Werner’s crew also beat Regina and Addison Trail.

LF senior outside hitter Mary Striedl amassed 50 kills, 33 digs and 11 aces; Lanzillotti finished with 34 kills, 33 digs and 14 aces; Sierks, sporting a wide, pink headband, lofted 83 assists; senior captain Mary Gwen Baker contributed 44 assists; and senior libero Meredith Huszagh reached for 30 digs.

Huszagh had the dig of the match late in Saturday’s 25-9, 19-25, 25-18 defeat of AT. With the Scouts up 23-17 in the third set, Huszagh, with the ball inches from hitting hardwood, somehow got a hand on it to keep the point alive. LF won the point.

Striedl then struck an ace to clinch the win.

Crisp win: LF thumped Zion-Benton 25-16, 25-15 behind Striedl’s 11 kills and three aces on Sept. 14. Lanzillotti (8 kills) and captain/middle hitter Jennifer Kreb (7) also bruised a volleyball often in the NSC Lake match.

On the schedule: Lake Forest, 2-0 in the NSC Lake, hosts Wauconda in an NSC crossover at 6 p.m. Sept. 27.

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