La Salle-Peru looks to repeat as I-8 champs, make postseason run with veteran roster

After its season prematurely ended in a regional semifinal as a No. 1 seed last fall, the La Salle-Peru volleyball team is motivated entering the 2025 season.

“We got kind of let down last year losing in the first round of regionals,” L-P junior Aubrey Duttlinger said, “but I think we have lots of expectations for us this year because we went out poorly. For us returning, we have a drive to push past that first round of regional, make the regional championship and see how far we can go from there.”

Senior Kelsey Frederick is looking to make a deep postseason run.

“That’s my goal, especially being our senior year,” Frederick said. “I feel like that would just be such a great way to go out and show what we’re made of. That’s been my goal since freshman year to do something great with the team.”

The Cavs are also hoping to make a run at another Interstate 8 Conference championship after going 9-1 in league play last year.

“We’re defending conference champs, so that’s something we’re working toward,” Duttlinger said.

The Cavs have high hopes because they return most of their starters from last year’s team that went 28-6.

Duttlinger is back at outside hitter along with senior Anna Riva, while Frederick returns at middle hitter. Drew Depenbrock will once again play at right side hitter, Emma Jereb is back at setter, and Karmen Piano returns in the back row.

Duttlinger, Frederick and Riva are three-year varsity players.

“We have a lot of experience,” Frederick said. “We know what it looks like to be on the court. Our front row is strong. Our back row is strong. Our setter is strong. I feel like we have an all-around good rotation.”

Up front, Duttlinger will once again be a big part of the L-P offense on the outside. The powerful swinger, who committed to NCAA Division I Troy, ranked second in the area in kills last season at 3.5 per set and was NewsTribune All-Area first team. Riva averaged 1.8 kills per set last year. Junior Maddie Gross could also see time on the outside.

Along with Depenbrock, McKenzie Krzyaniak has experience at right side hitter, while senior Brileigh Holland, juniors Paige Picco, Alexus Hines and Maggie Boudreau, and sophomores Reagan Fundell and Addi Schmidt are also in the mix.

The Cavs must replace 2024 NewsTribune Volleyball Player of the Year Ava Currie (2.6 kills, 1.3 blocks per set), but do return Frederick for her third season after she averaged 2.1 kills and 0.8 blocks per set last year. She was All-Interstate 8 and NewsTribune All-Area second team. Boudreau and Hines also will see time in the middle.

“We have a lot of good options in the front row,” L-P coach Mark Haberkorn said. “They’re very talented. They run a lot of different combinations. They’re also versatile. We have the opportunity to move them around and confuse the defense to give us an advantage.”

The hitters have a familiar face at setter in Jereb, who averaged 5.7 assists per set last year and was an honorable mention all-conference and all-area.

Freshman Aubrey Urbanski and junior Addie Schweickert also play setter.

“All of our hitters connect really well with our setters,” Riva said. “Our timing has been pretty good. We’re good at finding open spots on the floor, communicating through everything and calling out their hits.

“We’ve been practicing different sets. Instead of just doing the basics, we’ve been running quicker sets. We’re pretty quick in the front row. Catching the other teams off guard, we’ve been practicing that a lot, and I think we’ll utilize that in our matches to help get us some points.”

Piano takes over at libero after averaging 1.8 digs per set last fall. Senior Sophia Pyszka and juniors Shayla Turczyn, Kenzie Chamberlain, and Addie Dawson are also in the mix on defense.

“I trust our back row will be able to get a good pass so we can do a lot more things with the ball,” Frederick said.

Haberkorn said the Cavaliers will play a challenging schedule.

The Cavs added 3A regional champion Dixon and 2A state runner-up Bloomington Central Catholic. L-P will play in the Springfield Lutheran Tournament, where last year it faced back-to-back regional champions Glenwood and Staunton, and the Cavs will compete in the Limestone Tournament, where last year they played 3A state champion Mahomet-Seymour and 3A runner-up Limestone.

The Cavs play 19 matches in the first 24 days of the season and only play twice at home during the first 17 matches.

“We’re going to be tested early,” Haberkorn said. “It’s going to be a grind, but we hope that it pays off late in the season. We play all this good competition. We’re able to learn and grow and get better every day, which I think is important.”