Hinsdale Central moves on without setter

Updated: September 20, 2011 7:36PM

A fourth-place finish at the Wheaton Classic Saturday was a rare dose of good news for Hinsdale Central lately.

The Red Devils have not been able to play up to expectations, starting out 3-4 on the season, so reaching the top four in one of the season’s best tournaments was a momentum boost.

Sandburg defeated Hinsdale Central 25-20, 25-20 in the third-place match at the 24-team tournament at Wheaton Warrenville South. The Red Devils (8-7) lost to Benet (15-2), ranked No. 1 by YourSeason.com, 25-19, 25-17 in the semifinals.

“I had mixed feelings to be honest,” Hinsdale coach Sheralynn Kellough said. “We had a good match vs. Rosary to get us in the top four. We played better this time, but there were definitely a lot of holes that were exploited. Our Sandburg match was not close to our Rosary match.”

It looks like the Red Devils will play the rest of the season without junior setter Meghan McDowell, a 6-foot-2 recruit who verbally committed to Virginia. McDowell is considered one of the Chicago area’s top prospects in the Class of 2013 after playing for Aurora-based Sports Performance 16 Elite in the offseason.

McDowell has missed Hinsdale Central’s last nine matches since finishing third with the Red Devils at the Benet Invitational Aug. 27.

“It was an old injury from last spring when she hurt her ankle,” Kellough said. “She was out for club season, but came back for nationals (in July). An MRI showed torn ligaments and some were stretched. She’ll be in a cast for one month.”

By the time McDowell has her cast removed, there may not be much of a season remaining. Hinsdale Central’s final regular-season match is Oct. 22 at the Downers Grove North Invitational.

The Red Devils were running a two-setter offense, but now will count on returning setter Ellie Van Keiersbilck, a 5-8 senior.

“As a full-time setter, she’s done a nice job to be honest,” Kellough said. “She has that experience last year and has gotten better with her leadership on the court and running the offense. Obviously, she’s a different player than Meghan.”

Michigan-bound outside hitter Ally Davis and senior outside hitter Katie Grabowski were named to the all-tournament team. Davis was one of the kills leaders for the Red Devils despite missing the pool-play match against Oak Park-River Forest Sept. 14 due to an illness.

“Ally was great in all of her matches in general,” Kellough said.

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