Versatile Carls helps Andrew roll

Andrew senior Maureen Carls still is waiting for a very generous college offer.

Had there been any scouts in attendance Tuesday when the host Thunderbolts beat Homewood-Flossmoor 25-22, 25-12, she might have been signed by morning.

The 6-foot outside hitter was both a match-changer and an eyebrow-raiser.

She also was the most complete player on the court with 11 digs, eight kills, five blocks, three aces and two assists.

Other leaders for Andrew (6-1) in the SouthWest Suburban crossover were Liz Jendra (7 digs, 3 kills), Angela Robison (6 assists) and Kelsey Lafin (2 kills, 2 blocks).

H-F (1-1) was led by Kaitlyn Shereyk (9 kills, 10 digs), Nikki Herkert (7 assists, 7 digs), Kassic Wallace (8 assists) and Emily Schroeder (9 digs).

Carls was a match-changer in Game 1 when with the Vikings leading 20-18 she put down a kill. Carls then went to the back row, where she landed another kill and served for three aces.

“I like bringing energy to the team,” she said. “I try to, I really like doing it. It makes it more fun.”

She also provided the eyebrow-raising sequence of the match early in Game 2 when she had two swings from the right side brought by back by H-F, then raced to the left side and put a rocket down the line for a kill.

“Once every couple of matches I’ll have to run over there like that,” she said, laughing. “We actually work on that at practice.”

On the other side of the net, Shereyk was almost as productive as Carls. The junior outside was instrumental in H-F rallying from an early 5-0 deficit in Game 1 to taking as large as a 19-16 lead.

For a while she and Carls went kill for kill.

“Oh, that was really fun,” Shereyk said. “Going back and forth with her was exciting.”

The battle had an explosive conclusion late in Game 2 when Shereyk went up from the right side and sent a rocket that Carls stuffed back over the net.

“Oh, gosh, and I knew it was coming,” Shereyk said, laughing. “The set was a little tight and I just fell right for it and she blocked me.”

The Vikings are young in 2011, with just two seniors (Herkert and Schroeder), but Shereyk already has two seasons of varsity experience.

“We’ve got a lot more heart this year, I feel,” Shereyk said. “Our team together pushes. If we can get over the little errors and stuff, I think we’ll beat more teams than last year.”

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