Paige Lauterwasser claims she had no inkling of the success Naperville North would have this season.
“After we lost key players from last year, I thought this year was going to be a little rough,” she said.
It was a little rough — for the Huskies’ opponents.
Lauterwasser is the leading reason Naperville North (35-4) equaled the second-most wins in program history and won conference and regional titles before losing to Class 4A state runner-up Benet in a sectional championship game.
The 6-foot senior outside hitter capped a noteworthy four-year career with her most brilliant season yet. Lauterwasser, the 2022 Naperville Sun Girls Volleyball Player of the Year, smashed 484 kills on a .305 hitting percentage to go with 261 digs, 47 aces and 28 blocks.
A Wyoming recruit, Lauterwasser was the tournament MVP of the Scholastic Cup and the Blocktober Fest, both of which the Huskies won, and was the DuPage Valley Conference player of the year.
“It’s definitely been a wild ride, coming from freshman year and then having COVID affect my sophomore year,” she said. “But I feel like my senior year has definitely been the best, and it’s great being able to end on so many accomplishments and helping this program continue to improve.”
The Huskies went 95-26 record during Lauterwasser’s career. She finished with 1,025 kills, fourth on Naperville North’s career list. She accomplished that even though her sophomore season was truncated to 10 matches due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Many of Lauterwasser’s kills this season came on back-row attacks, which are harder to produce but can give defenders fits if executed properly.
“She sees the court really well,” Naperville North coach Jennifer Urban said. “She can hit deep corners, she can throw in a roll shot, she can open-hand tip from the back row.
“The special thing about her is when she’s attacking from the back row, most of the time it’s when we’re out of system and we’re just passing a high ball to the middle of the court and we’re expecting her to jump in and make a swing. She’s pretty effective from the back row.”
Benet coach Brad Baker agreed. He felt fortunate the Redwings were able to limit Lauterwasser to six kills when they snapped Naperville North’s 19-match winning streak in the sectional final.
“We didn’t think we were stopping her,” Baker said. “We were just like, ‘Can we somewhat slow her down?’ Because she’s in the top 10 of back-row attackers that we’ve seen in the last 10 years.”
Lauterwasser said back-row attacking was a big area of improvement for her.
“I felt it was important to get good at that,” she said. “I know a lot of times I need to be an option back row, especially when it’s out of system. I’m hoping on improving that skill throughout the next four years.”
Improvement was a constant for Lauterwasser during her Naperville North career and will be a hallmark of her legacy.
“It was an honor to coach Paige,” Urban said. “It’s been so great to see her progress as a player and a leader. She holds herself to such a high standard and her teammates as well. She carried the team this year.
“She’s going to do great things at Wyoming. We’re just really excited to see what that next step in her career holds for her.”
So is Lauterwasser, who will take many happy memories with her.
“Obviously, we wish we could have gone farther, but I’m still super proud of us and the things we’ve accomplished,” she said. “I just really appreciate all the people and all the coaches that have helped me throughout my years here. I’ll definitely miss them next year.”
Matt Le Cren is a freelance reporter for the Naperville Sun.