Girls volleyball notes: Glenbard West’s Marin Johnson, Avery Herbert off to fast start with title at Wheaton N

Marin Johnson and Avery Herbert already played club volleyball together at 1st Alliance and Hadley Junior High School.

They found themselves teammates again as the lone freshmen on the Glenbard West varsity for the 2020-21 COVID-affected short season played in the spring.

“We were kind of our two-man little group as freshmen, but everybody was still supportive and we were in it together,” Johnson said. “We’ve been in this together for the last four years and we have a great chemistry.”

As seniors, the outside hitters have been voted by teammates as co-captains for what could be the Hilltoppers’ best season since finishing second in Class 4A in 2015. On Saturday, the Hilltoppers won Wheaton North’s Blue and Gold Tournament for the second time in three years by outlasting defending champion Benet 14-25, 25-15, 25-17.

Johnson (10 kills, nine digs, three aces), Herbert (five kills, eight digs), seniors Penny Vilkama (14 digs, six aces) and Breccan Scheck (four kills) and freshman Cara Herbert, Avery’s sister, (23 assists) were key contributors. Glenbard West led 12-4 in aces.

“They (the Redwings) were on fire in the first set,” Glenbard West coach Dan Scott said. “Then we started keeping them off-balance with our serve and changed the game.”

Johnson and Vilkama were all-tournament. Johnson, a two-time All-West Suburban Conference Silver Division selection, will play at Southeast Missouri.

For their careers, Johnson and Herbert have 583 and 475 kills, respectively. More important, they’ve been integral during the transition of Scott from varsity assistant to head coach last season after the retirement of long-time head coach Pete Mastandrea.

“I’m really proud, knowing them as little innocent freshmen who didn’t talk until midway in the season to young women who are now great leaders,” Scott said. “They do everything the right way. At practice, they’re always on time. They are there setting up nets. They’re always able to mentor the younger girls.”

Glenbard West (6-0) has 13 seniors, many last season contributing to the program’s first Silver title since 2016. The Hilltoppers lost in the sectional semifinals to St. Charles East, which finished fourth at state.

“I love it. (Johnson and I have) always worked very well together, very supportive of each other. Just a nice friend to have all four years,” Herbert said. “I definitely think the stuff off the court, not game-wise is what drove our program to be really good. (We try to) just bring that legacy down to be a good, supportive team.”

Scott also praised his co-captains for improving their overall games to strengthen a possibly even better overall defensive team than 2022. Senior Lindsey Street’s return from tendinitis in her knees will add to the Hilltoppers’ depth.

“I think we’ve brought it really together,” Johnson said. “We were good before but now I think we’re better than ever.”

More Blue and Gold Invite

Runner-up Benet had senior outside hitter Ava Novak and junior libero Aniya Warren on the all-tournament team for the second year in a row. Novak and Audrey Asleson had eight kills against Glenbard West. Warren had 19 digs and Ellie Stiernagle 28 assists.

“Glenbard West just played really well,” Benet coach Brad Baker said. “We took it to them in the first set and credit to them for keeping their heads up and coming back and playing strong.”

Also all-tournament were senior outside hitter Jesse Trapp for third-place York and junior outside hitter Halina Istanbouli for seventh–place Wheaton North. Trapp also was all-tournament in 2022.

Other invite highlights

Lemont finished an impressive third at the Metea Valley/Oswego East Kickoff Classic Saturday by beating Yorkville 25-17, 20-25, 25-21. In the semifinals, 3A Lemont took the first set against defending 4A state champion and eventual invite champion Mother McAuley but lost 23-25, 25-15, 25-9. Lemont’s all-tournament players were Keira O’Donnell (47 kills, 44 digs, 31 service points) April Rice (30 kills, 28 digs, 54 assists) and Jessica Rimbo (49 assists, 44 service points).

“To know that we can compete against a team like McAuley was definitely a bright spot,” Lemont coach Chris Zogata responded. “We still need to learn how to sustain that level of play but overall it taught us a lot.”

Wheaton Warrenville South was sixth at Plainfield North’s 32-team Mizuno Crimson Classic Saturday. WW South junior outside hitter Lauren Coyne and Downers Grove South junior setter Alexis Barcenas were all-tournament. Timothy Christian and Lyons Township were 3-0 at their respective Rolling Meadows and LT quads.