Katarzynski sisters lead West Chicago

Updated: September 8, 2011 9:02PM

Kayla and Mary Kate Katarzynski are sisters who have their little spats, and sometimes they bicker on the court. But more than each other, they hate to lose.

Kayla and Mary Kate play for West Chicago, which surprised a lot of folks by winning the DuPage Valley Conference title last year. Mary Kate was not a part of that team. The 5-foot-9 sophomore was playing at nearby St. Francis.

When Mary Kate decided to join her sister at West Chicago, it was good for the volleyball team, but not always so good for the sisters.

“Its different with her playing with us,” said Kayla, a 5-3 junior libero. “She is good and I knew she would make varsity. I also knew it would be difficult for us to get along. We do get along at home for the most part, but volleyball is kind of getting in the way.”

Thursday, the sisters got in the way of Wheaton North. Mary Kate Katarzynski had 16 assists and two kills and Kayla had 15 digs as No. 10 West Chicago (8-0, 2-0 in the DuPage Valley) squeezed out a 25-23, 19-25, 25-11 victory.

Kayla and Mary Kate have never played on the same team before, but the addition of the younger sister allowed West Chicago coach Kris Hasty to implement a 6-2 offense with Mary Kate and Payton Bayless sharing setter and hitting duties.

“I think they’ve always run a 5-1, so Payton hitting on the rightside has been huge,” Mary Kate said. “She’s been really successful with her kills. I think that’s working really well. There’s not as much pressure on her running a 5-1.”

When Bayless is in the front row, Mary Kate transitions into setting, something she had never done prior to the recently-concluded club season.

“I was an outside hitter,” Mary Kate said. “I started setting this year for the first time. I like hitting because you get more credit. You get credit for setting, too. But I feel like if I do go far in volleyball, I’ll do better as a setter because I’m not tall.”

But she still towers over her older sister.

“We get along off the court sometimes,” Mary Kate said. “It’s just little sister fights. It’s like, ‘Get out of the way.” It’s things sisters always do.”

Julia Conard had eight kills, three aces and 19 digs for West Chicago, who opened a 15-4 lead in the third game after trailing the entire second game. Six-foot-4 junior Andrea Skipor added seven kills, three blocks and two aces, and Bayless had five kills and 13 assists.

Katie Thornton had 13 assists and Ali Royer added five kills and four aces for Wheaton North (3-5, 0-2), which had a 23-22 lead in the first game before a Bayless block and Skipor ace rallied the hosts .

“I was really happy with my defense tonight,” Wheaton North coach Carol Kristensen said. “It really came through. It’s tough. She (Hasty) has volleyball players, I have athletes. My kids give me everything they have every single second. We just got too far down in the third set.”

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