The Glenbrook South girls volleyball team is a long way from its 30-win season a year ago.
The Titans lost their sixth consecutive match on Thursday, Sept. 3, falling 25-11, 25-16 to Stevenson in Lincolnshire.
But Glenbrook South coach Katie Hoover isn’t panicking.
“We are trying to figure some things out, trying to make ourselves whole,” she said.
Graduating eight seniors left the Titans (2-6) with several holes to fill in the lineup. Injuries to starting senior libero Maddy Eenigenburg and starting junior outside hitter Sarah Wojick haven’t helped, either. Wojick has missed the last six matches. Hoover estimated she’s used as many as seven lineups so far.
“We have plenty of new players working themselves into the lineup,” she said. “We are looking for the right combination of girls who can be confident and aggressive. But we aren’t making any excuses.”
On Thursday, Sept. 3, the Titans couldn’t get anything going on offense, especially in the first game when they totaled two kills. Junior outside hitter Julia Rytel, who was second on the team last season with 201 kills, finished with two kills for the match.
Glenbrook South senior libero Cory Klapacz said the Titans have been plagued by inconsistency.
“I think we are close,” Klapacz said. “We will have a good pass, then bad set. Or a good set, then make a hitting error. Things just aren’t clicking right now. We haven’t meshed it all together.”
Libero is a new position for Klapacz, who’s moved to the back row from outside hitter while Eenigenburg gets healthy. Eenigenburg has yet to play this year.
“All the returning players talked at the beginning of the season, and we understood that this was going to be a different team than last year,” Klapacz said. “We expected to have some difficulties, but we are pushing through.”
Glenbrook South’s schedule hasn’t helped. On Monday, Aug. 31, the Titans lost to Loyola, which finished fourth in Class 4A last fall, and then they fell to an improved Lake Forest club on Tuesday, Sept. 1. Including the loss to the Patriots (8-1), the Titans haven’t won a game in any of their last three matches.
“We haven’t fully harnessed our potential, but we feel like once we find our groove, we are going to be a good team,” Klapacz said. “I think we will be surprising some people by the end of the year. This adversity is going to make us stronger.”
Stevenson notes
* The Patriots won for the fifth time in a row. Their lone loss of the season was Saturday, Aug. 29, when they fell to Libertyville 25-21, 26-24.
* Junior outside hitter Jori Radtke led the offense with seven kills and added five digs. Senior outside hitter Isabella Milejczyk had five kills. Senior libero Morgan Berland finished with nine digs and four aces. Senior setter Corissa Kurth contributed 13 assists.
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