1st Alliance play bodes well for Downers South

By Phil Brozynski

If club play is any indication, Downers Grove South will be awful tough to beat this fall.

Four members of the Mustangs anticipated fall squad outside hitter Christine Bowe, outside hitter Kelsey Safranek, defensive whiz Courtney Gosewich and setter Colleen Dobry have been playing for 1st Alliance 17 Silver.

All 1st Alliance 17 Silver has done this summer is finish third out of 53 teams at the PrepVolleyball.com Classic June 15-17 in Wisconsin Dells and fifth out of 24 teams at the National Junior Classic at the Great Lakes Center May 24-26.

Other members of 1st Alliance 17 Silver include Mother McAuley defensive ace Sue Hayes, Lemont hitter Aubrey Sniegowski, Payton middle Courtney Cunningham, and Oak Park middle hitter Sara Shannon, who was named the Most Outstanding Blocker in the Dells.

1st Alliance 17 Black, powered by Downers Souths 6-1 setter Marielle Oestemeyer, has not done too badly, either. 1st Alliance Black finished seventh at NJC and fifth at the PrepVolleyball.com Classic.

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Club Fusion 17 Black coach Chris Bronke, who coaches Barrington during the high school season, watched his team tie for fifth at the PrepVolleyball.com Classic.

Two of Blacks four losses in the Dells were three-set matches to FaR Out 17-1 (25-14, 20-25, 15-13), which finished second, and Milwaukee Sting 17 Gold (25-21, 20-25, 15-11), which won the NJC tournament and tied for third at the Dells.

Club Fusion 17 Black features talented players from the northwest and far west suburbs led by 6-2 middle blocker Samantha Thrower, who led Sycamore to a third-place finish in the inaugural Illinois High School Association Class 3A tournament last fall.

Other standouts for Fusion 17 Black were Crystal Lake South middle Erin Johnson, Prairie Ridge opposite hitter Sondra Parys, and Burlington Central setter Molly Turk.

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Sports Performance is expanding into the far northwest suburbs. The Aurora-based club will be among the tenants when the new Lake Barrington Fieldhouse on Pepper Road opens sometime this year. The facility will feature indoor baseball diamonds and basketball and volleyball courts.

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Rolling Thunder 17 Blue finished tied for 13th among the 53 teams at the PrepVolleyball.com Classic. Leading the way for Rolling Thunder was Lake Zurichs 6-foot outside hitter Amber Miehlke.