St. Ignatius’ Kristen Somerville will be the focus of attention Thursday when the Wolfpack (21-9) takes on Glenbard East at the Little Village Class 4A Regional. But St. Ignatius coach Erik Eastman will also need big efforts from two- time All-Girls Catholic Athletic Conference selection Kristi May and All-GCAC libero Carla Salvato. May is the school’s third all-time leader in career assists with 1,446 and aces with 122, while Salvato is the team leader in digs with 343 and is fifth all-time in career 3.0-plus passes with 380.
Marian Central hopes to capitalize on some late-season momentum Thursday when it faces top-seeded Belvidere at the Harvard Class 3A Regional. After hovering around the .500 mark for much of the season, Marian Central is now 22-14 thanks to a pair of juniors – Rachel Giustino and Alex Kaufman. Giustino leads the Hurricanes with 273 kills and has contributed 284 digs and 29 blocks. Kaufman, a 5-foot-6 libero, has 530 digs this season and passes at 2.21 on a 3-point scale.
Can Marist (28-8) make a deep playoff run? A date with Lyons looms in the sectional semifinal next Tuesday at Mother McAuley, provided the RedHawks can get past Hinsdale Central in the regional final Thursday at Eisenhower. “We still have room to grow, which is the exciting part,” Marist coach Julie Popp Hopkins said. “Now they have to make those changes. It’s the postseason. We got to make our run. We got a good group of girls that can do it. So when it happens, it’s going to be exciting.”
