Former Lyon’s star Laura Williams will join the nation’s 10th-rated recruiting class at Duke this fall.
The Libertyville varsity boys volleyball team has been named the recipient of the Zebras of Northern Illinois (ZONI) Spring 2012 Sportsmanship Banner.
Each season, ZONI recognizes teams that display good sportsmanship throughout the year. ZONI officials voted the Libertyville varsity boys team the best for overall player, coach and fan sportsmanship across all of the schools and teams that ZONI members saw during the past season.
The following other teams received certificates signifying that they also demonstrated exceptional sportsmanship throughout the season: Glenbard East; Glenbrook South; Grant; Lyons Township; Maine East; Prospect; and Waukegan.
A list of previous winners can be found on the ZONI web site: http://www.zoni.org.
ZONI is a high school volleyball officials’ organization in the Chicago area. Its goals include recruiting and mentoring new officials, developing officiating skills, promoting good sportsmanship, and encouraging advancement in official ratings and member evaluations.
Good sportsmanship is the attitude and behavior that exemplifies positive support of the interscholastic volleyball program for schools as well as for the individuals who participate in those programs.
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PrepVolleyball.com recently announced its list of the top 30 collegiate recruiting classes of 2012. Stanford, whose class features ESPN Player of the Year Jordan Burgess, a 6-foot outside hitter from Berkeley Prep (Tampa, Fla.) has the consensus No. 1 class this year.
Prepvolleyball.com ranked the top 30 schools with the next 17 listed as “Highest Honorable Mention” and 30 others receiving “High Honorable Mention” recognition. The schools listed below are those who feature players from the Chicago area:
10. Duke: Laura Williams (Lyons Township).
12. Michigan: Ally Davis (Hinsdale Central) and Carly Warner (St. Francis).
13. Purdue: Bridget Powell (Mother McAuley).
18. Arizona: Emily Bemis (DeKalb).
25. Illinois: Julia Conard (West Chicago), Kathryn Polkoff (New Trier) and Alexis Viliunas (Lyons Township).
30. Marquette: Mary Nilles (Batavia).
Highest Honorable Mention
Indiana: Amelia Anderson (Crystal Lake Central) and Katie Gallagher (York).
Maryland: Amy Dion (Huntley).
Pittsburgh: Jessica Boddy (Metea Valley), Casey Durham (Evanston), Jenna Jacobson (Whitney Young), Amanda Orchard (Lake Zurich) and Mary Striedl (Lake Forest).
Virginia Tech: Jenna Jendryk (Benet).
Wisconsin: Meghan Haggerty (Benet) and Victoria Ito (Buffalo Grove).
High Honorable Mention
Creighton: Melanie Jereb (Cary-Grove).
Loyola-Chicago: Brittany Brown (Nazareth Academy), Maureen Carls (Andrew), Kelly Feigh (Joliet Catholic) and Stephanie Kinane (Batavia).
Ohio: Abby Gilleland (Marian Central).
Princeton: Annie Ferlmann (Benet).
Villanova: Gabby Pethokoukis (Benet).
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The Great Lakes Volleyball Center, which currently features eight courts and 61,000 square feet at 579 N. Oakhurst Drive in Aurora, is building a Youth Volleyball Academy that will add four additional courts and 23,000 square feet to its current structure.
The “Great Lakes Center Youth Development Academy” will offer multiple programs to both boys and girls from grades K-7 starting in September 2012.
The Great Lakes Center Youth Development Academy will focus on developing individual skills that are age appropriate and also introduce young athletes to the overall technical and tactical components of the sport of Volleyball.
For more information about the Youth Volleyball Academy, please contact Rick Butler or Cheryl Butler at (630) 898-6400 or email Rick@greatlakescenter.com or Cheryl@greatlakescenter.com.
