Ella Bourque might be up-and-coming Yorkville’s lone Division I recruit — so far — but she would argue the Foxes are loaded with headliners.
“I feel like our whole offense on the front row is really good,” Bourque said. “It’s easy to mix it up because we don’t have to rely on just one person.”
Seeing to it everyone is involved is just part of the responsibility shouldered by Bourque, a 5-foot-11 senior who splits her time between setter and right-side hitter.
In that role, Bourque joins 5-9 senior Saige Avery as part of a bookend set, of sorts, for fourth-year coach Lisa Molek.
Avery plays the same positions as Bourque, and both are in their fourth year on the varsity.
They have been best friends since middle school, playing for the same club program and same team at the 14-under level, and always on their school teams.
The only differences between them? Their height, along with the fact that Bourque is right-handed and Avery is a lefty.
“We know how each other plays,” Bourque said.
Bourque and Avery are putting up similar numbers in leading the Foxes (12-1), who won their Southwest Prairie West opener 25-18, 25-23 Thursday over Oswego.
This season, Bourque has 170 assists, 82 kills, 58 digs, six blocks and 19 aces.
“Ella always brings good energy on the court,” Avery said. “She’s an amazing setter and an amazing hitter. It’s always good to have someone you can count on out on the court, and that’s her.”
Avery, meanwhile, has 149 assists, 62 kills, 58 digs, 10 blocks and 20 aces this fall.
“I feel like Saige is a difficult challenge for other teams because we don’t see lefties very often,” Bourque said. “Saige can make all kinds of shots — outside, right side, you name it.”
Molek maintained the ball looks different coming off the arm of a lefty.
“It’s coming from a different angle so kids do have a harder time adjusting to that because they’re not used to seeing it,” Molek said. “It’s harder to read.”
In August, a week before the season began, Bourque verbally committed to Canisius in Buffalo, New York.
“They reached out to me during COVID-19, when I couldn’t visit,” Bourque said. “I did the virtual tour then finally made an official visit in August and loved it. I hit it off with the coaches, watched a practice and I could really see myself there.”
Avery remains undecided and uncommitted.
“For D-I, I don’t really have the height,” she said. ‘But my sister plays D-III and I’ve been looking at some schools at that level.”
Sydnei Avery is a junior outside hitter at Aurora University. Bourque’s older sister, Maddy, is a sophomore setter at Division I Stephen F. Austin in Texas.
Meanwhile, Ella Bourque and Saige Avery have fed 5-8 senior outside hitter Jenelle Pye-Blacknard for a team-high 98 kills and 5-11 junior outside Keelyn Muell for 86 kills.
Yorkville may be The Little Engine That Could of the Southwest Prairie West with an 1,800-plus enrollment. This is the Foxes’ third season of play in the conference. Other schools have enrollments ranging from 2,300 to 3,700.
“We’re really looking forward to succeeding in the SPC,” Avery said. “It’s a tough conference, but we’ve definitely grown in it.”
Bourque said the team is close and works hard.
“Honestly, I don’t think we have a weak link,” Avery said. “Everyone’s pretty strong and they play together.”
Molek said the team, and program, have grown.
“We’ve become more of a mature group,” Molek said. “A lot of these kids played when they were young. They want to find success in this conference, and (Thursday’s) win was the first step toward that.”