Name: Julianna Kouba

School: St. Charles North, softball

Sport: Softball

What she did: In three games, Kouba went 6 for 12 (.500 average) with three doubles, a home run and eight RBIs. She also drove in the go-ahead run to secure the season sweep against St. Charles East.

Kouba was selected as the Athlete of the Week based on an online vote.

Here’s her Q&A with sports reporter Joel Boenitz.

How do you feel you performed last week?

Kouba: Personally, I think I’m finally getting over that curve. A few weeks ago, I wasn’t getting the ball down and wasn’t dropping it in the places that it needed to be. And I feel like I’ve gained more confidence throughout the season to really show up for my teammates and my team and I feel like that really helped me strive to do my best and just hit the ball hard.

What was the feeling of driving in the run that secured the season sweep against St. Charles East?

Kouba: It’s always a good game against St. Charles East and it was something to look forward to throughout the whole season. I had an idea of where the pitcher was going to pitch me in my mind and I just tried to execute my intuition of what she was going to do and just try to hit the ball in the play and on the right side. I didn’t need to hit the ball over the fence, just find a gap, which happened to happen.

You followed that game up with six RBIs against Wheaton-Warrenville South. What was it that helped you come up big in that game?

Kouba: I was just feeling myself. I feel like my bat and the ball were just connecting at the right moments at the right time I only really think one word when I go to the plate and at that moment, I was thinking happiness. And when I constantly say that over and over in my head, I don’t have to think about anything else other than relaxing, breathing and swinging hard.

You ended the week clinching a DuKane Conference title with a win over Batavia. How’d it feel to secure the fourth title in five years?

Kouba: It’s amazing. We still want to secure that title just for us, but it really shows how much of improvement we’ve had from the beginning of the year to the end of the year, and how much we’ve grown as a team and as a community. But winning conference is just to start to our postseason run, and is a great beginning to the final light at the end of the tunnel of the state championship, which we’re all hoping to get to that. That’s all that we’re looking forward to, but winning conference is an amazing achievement, especially in one of the hardest conferences in the whole state of Illinois.

You’ve been a key part of the success this season with 30 RBIs so far. What’s it been like having this success, especially while batting between players like Ella Heimbuch and Abby Zawadzki?

Kouba: Those two girls have been some of my best friends on the team and we really bounce off each other and push each other to do our best. But it just shows the growth that we’ve all had as a collective. It’s a great feeling to be comparable to them in the way that we all always continue to do better every game.

You mentioned always testing the water before each game. Do you still do that?

Kouba: We have individual bottles, but I always grab one and taste it and have a little ranking in my head. The water at Glenbard North was the best one recently because the water was really cold and had really crisp ice, it just hit the spot.

What is your walk-up song and why?

Kouba: It’s “Fireball” by Pitbull. I just wanted to make sure that everyone knows the song and can jam along to it, especially my grandparents, parents and other family members. But I like getting up there and having a little boogie to my move. I can always dance along to my own song which is a big thing for me.