Erienne Barry (pictured right). Meghan Niski. Jullia Conard. Rachel Kent. Andrea Skipor. Annamarie Ciancio. Kim Juriga. Jenna Jendryk. Meghan Haggerty. Joy Johnson. Daiva Wise. Lauren Carlini.
Names to remember, and not a senior among them.
The youngsters are tearing it up during the club season, promising an unforgettable season this fall when the ladies return to their respective high schools to play for their classmates and hometowns.
Niski, a junior-to-be outside hitter at St. Charles East, and her Club Fusion 16 Black teammates Conard (West Chicago) and Barry (St. Charles East) recently won the 16s division of the PrepVolleyball.com Classic in the Wisconsin Dells. Niski was named the Most Outstanding Player.
Jendryk (Benet) and Haggerty (Benet), meanwhile, helped SPVB 18 Elite win the Pre-National event at the Great Lakes Center although neither of them will be a senior, while Skipor, a 6-3 blocking machine from West Chicago, helped her Fusion 15 team win in the Dells.
Also, keep your eye on a couple of sophomores-to-be from the Sunsetters Volleyball Club -- Hinsdale South's Rachel Kent and Isabella Antoniolli and Downers Grove South's Annamarie Ciancio, who impressed PrepVolleyball.com guru John Tawa last weekend at the Dells.
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It's never too early to say "On, Wisconsin."
Lauren Carlini (pictured below), who will be a sophomore at West Aurora this fall, has verbally committed to play volleyball for the University of Wisconsin. The 5-11 setter/outside hitter received interest from dozens of schools, but was set on playing for the Badgers.
Carlini had 185 assists, 105 kills, 42 blocks and 30 aces as a freshman at West Aurora. She was named to the Dupage Valley All-Conference Team and was recently selected to the Youth Olympic Team that will play in Singapore in August
"Lauren is not only one of our most powerful hitters, but also is our most aggressive server," West Aurora coach Kari Nicholson said. "As a freshman, she plays with the experience and maturity of a much older player."
Too bad that the PrepVB.com Classic was the same weekend as the Asics National Championships at Navy Pier. With some additional coverage, one would be expanding on that list of underclassman, noting that the Rolling Thunder 15U team finished in the top 5 of the 16U Division with it's all 6' front row of MB's Shannon Nugent (Vernon Hills - Varsity) and Janelle Stilling (St Viator), OH's Liza Pflugradt (Stevenson) and Kelly Koutik (Schamburg) and RS Layne Self (Lake Zurich) who was absent, plus their All-Area setter Megan Tallman (Wauc.)all Class of '13.
End of the season update:
All-Area Sophomores 2010: Shannon Nugent, Layne Self, Meagan Tallman and Honorable Mentions Janelle Stilling (and injured Rachael Micky-Rolling Meadows) Not a bad tally.