First impressions are important, and the impressions new Evanston girls head volleyball coach Mallory Thelander drew out of the summer league competition and summer camps she conducted at ETHS will certainly help determine which individuals have the edge when it comes to playing time once tryouts begin in another month for the 2016-17 high school season.
They probably don’t realize it yet, but for most of the current Wildkit hopefuls, that first impression actually took place last fall when they were playing for Evanston’s junior varsity.
Thelander was coaching against ETHS on the lower levels for Loyola Academy, where she also teaches, but she couldn’t help noticing the energy the Wildkits showed on the other sideline. It’s rare when an opposing team can make an impression like that.
“I remember just how energetic they were over there. To me, it was just unbelievable!” Thelander exclaimed. “You could tell how glad they were just to be there. You could tell they had bonded as a team and it’s so important to have that one, solid thing going for you. Volleyball is 60 to 75 percent mental — you do have to have the skills of course — but if you’re not mentally in it like they were, you’re not going to play as well as you could.”
Energy level is important in a sport where the momentum can shift sides several times in the space of just 10 minutes. Thelander saw that as a major plus that has carried over for a group that is naturally trying to impress the new coach. Starting jobs are at stake all around after Evanston graduated all six starters from last year’s 16-20 team.
The Wildkits compiled a 6-5 overall record competing in the Niles North summer league, placing fourth overall among the eight teams competing. They split a pair of matches in the season-ending playoffs, defeating Maine East 22-25, 25-16 and 15-10 before bowing to No. 1 seed Regina Dominican in a three set battle by a margin of 25-22, 25-27, 10-15.
“I think it was a huge positive for us to get some of this team bonding accomplished even before tryouts, before the season starts,” Thelander pointed out.
“Our numbers are not huge — we don’t have a lot of depth — but we do have a lot of talent here. And I see at least 4 or 5 girls, not all of them seniors, who have already taken on leadership roles.”
Two players who saw the most varsity action among the returnees, 6-foot junior Clara Siebert and senior defensive specialist Caitlin Sweeney, weren’t around much this summer. Sweeney spent several weeks out of town on a service project and Siebert has been working on an internship on the East Coast in the off-season.
Their respective absences just gave some other up-and-coming underclassmen opportunities to shine with Thelander watching closely.
“With so many seniors on the team last year, and not many returning varsity players, I was curious to see what this team looks like,” said the new coach, a former standout herself at ETHS. “I really have to say that I’m pleasantly surprised by the talent we have, and I see a lot of talent on the lower levels, too. At the freshman camp, it was unbelievable how many of them look like they’ve already played club ball. They already have good, solid fundamentals and that’s something that we can build on.”
Junior Holly Desmond, a setter, and sophomore libero Siena Prokopenko both figure to contend for starting spots after being promoted to the varsity for postseason play at the end of last year. And two hitters, 6-foot sophomore Rosemary Gibbons and 5-foot-11 junior Claire Berne, could be impact players sooner rather than later.
Berne delivered match point to seal the victory over Maine East on the final day of play at Niles North, and she added 9 kills in the loss to Regina. The Wildkits missed a half dozen serves in that defeat, including three crucial misses in the final set.
Berne showed a knack for putting down kills even when the sets she received as an outside hitter didn’t always put her in a good position to swing. “Somehow she made plays for us even from outside the antenna,” praised Thelander. “She wasn’t hitting with a lot of power, but she made a lot of smart decisions.”
Dennis Mahoney is sports information director for ETHS.