Timothy Christian rolls past Elmwood Park

Updated: October 12, 2011 11:13AM

Timothy Christian has been in good hands with a Lodewyk running the show the last two years.

Krista Lodewyk led Timothy Christian to the regional championship game in 2010 where it suffered a heartbreaking 17-25, 25-23, 25-18 loss to eventual supersectional qualifier Immaculate Conception.

This year, sophomore Jenna Lodewyk hopes to do her sister one – or maybe two or more – better.

Jenna Lodewyk piloted Timothy Christian to its 25th win in 28 matches Tuesday, collecting 19 assists, a kill and an ace as the Trojans defeated Elmwood Park 25-13, 25-20 in Metro Suburban Conference play in Elmhurst.

Timothy Christian improved to 10-0 in the Metro Suburban. Winning has not surprised Lodewyk.

“I think we have been successful because of our diversity,” Lodewyk said. “We have freshmen, sophomores, juniors and seniors on the team, and even though we’re all very different, we mold together very well as a unit.”

Lodewyk, however, is not much different than her sister, who she followed throughout much of her athletic career.

“My sister set last year and I set for junior varsity, then I got pulled up for regional,” Lodewyk said. “I’ve done a lot of the same things she did. Volleyball was one of the things she did. She played a little club, so I started playing club. She was a setter, and I am a setter.”

One could argue the younger Lodewyk has a few more weapons at her disposal, like senior middle hitter Makenzie Vos, senior outside hitter Jordan Smits and freshman rightside hitter Kacie Stoll. Stoll had nine kills Tuesday while Vos and Smits each had five.

Vos agreed with her sophomore setter that the team’s chemistry has made a difference in 2011.

“Our team was very, very good last year, but we didn’t do anything with it,” Vos said. “The team meshes well this year. All the girls get along. We got along last year, but this year our playing skills are working together, too. “

Despite the youth of Lodewyk, Stoll and freshman defensive specialist Hanna Markewycz, Timothy Christian still relies on the senior leadership of Vos and Smits.

“Other teams know that Makenzie and Jordan are our top players, but when they try to take them away our other players have been stepping up,” Timothy coach Lindsey VanSchepen said. “They really open things up for the other girls.

“I had a lot of questions at the beginning of the season,” the coach added. “We had a lot of positions to fill. I didn’t know which players would step up. I didn’t know if it would happen. I have been very pleasantly surprised.

“Our seniors get along with the younger girls, and they pull on each other every day to get better,” VanSchepen said.

Improvement has also been the mantra at Elmwood Park, although the results are not as obvious as those at Timothy Christian.

“When we lose we don’t lose terribly,’ Elmwood Park coach Katie Prechel said. “We compete. The girls really do want to fight. How many people would still want to come to work if they lost all the time? I had a girl come up to me today after the match and ask if she could put in some extra work tomorrow.

“These girls are very willing to put the work in and really want to do better,” Prechel added.

Reno Eckebrecht had two kills and three blocks, Rebecca Gruber had a pair of aces and Amanda Tillich added two kills and an ace for the Tigers (0-20, 0-9).

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