Lauren Shaw’s family and friends might be surprised to hear the Warren senior outside hitter wants to be more boisterous.
On the volleyball court, that is.
“Sometimes I can be a little loud outside of volleyball, but being a vocal leader on the court does not always come easy for me,” Shaw said. “It’s something I have had to learn.
“Being a senior now, I want to be one of the players who leads on and off the court.”
The 5-foot-11 Shaw was one of the Blue Devils’ leaders in an 18-25, 25-19, 25-23 nonconference road victory against Grant in Fox Lake on Monday.
Shaw piled up a match-high 12 kills and was solid defensively as Warren (17-7) rallied to win. Junior outside hitter Katelyn Rossini, who had eight kills, and junior setter Clara O’Brien paced the Bulldogs (8-10).
But Shaw said she’s her biggest critic and that could be keeping her from being the vocal leader she wants to be.
“I’m tough on myself, and if I was not playing well, it used to affect other parts of my game, like trying to keep my teammates into the match,” she said. “I think I’m doing better in that area this season.”
When the Blue Devils had 15 hitting and service errors in the opening game against Grant, Shaw and her teammates could have let doubt affect them.
“We knew we were a better team than we showed,” Shaw said. “Fortunately, we have been encouraged by our coaches to keep swinging and not to play tentative. We know we have a lot of talented players on this team that are ready to pick someone up if they are having a bad game.”
Warren coach Yun Chen agreed with her.
“Lauren is a very good player that does a lot for us, but we just don’t have one player who we count on all the time,” he said. “The more balanced we are, the better we will be.”
In the final two games, Shaw showcased the all-around skills that drew the attention of Wisconsin-Stevens Point, where she will continue her career next year.
“I think I have gotten a lot better this season with my decision-making hitting at the net,” Shaw said. “I try to make the shot with the best chance of success.”
Warren has several talented hitting options for senior setter GabriElle Brewer, including 6-foot-2 junior middle Ruth Ziegler and 5-11 sophomore outside Lauren Schilz.
“We knew about a couple of Warren’s big hitters, so we tried to do some things to prepare for them,” Grant coach John Gizowski said. “We don’t have their height, but I thought we did a pretty good job defensively on them.
“I’m proud of my team with the way they fought against Warren. It was almost like a win for us.”
Shaw said the Blue Devils have more in the tank.
“We know we are coming to the part of the schedule where we have to pick it up,” she said. “I have no doubt that our team can finish the regular season strong and make a deep run in the playoffs.
“We are a very close-knit group that sticks together, and that will help us in tight situations like we had (against Grant) and in upcoming matches.”
Darren Day is a freelance reporter for the News-Sun.