Bolingbrook’s Sarah Harvey voted Athlete of the Week

For the second week in a row, a Bolingbrook volleyball player has been voted the Herald-News Athlete of the Week.

Sarah Harvey, a 5-foot-8 junior setter who had 50 assists and 28 digs in helping the Raiders go 4-0 to win the Charger Invitational, picked up 215 votes to win the voting. Aleksa Simkus of Lockport received 156 votes, while Cooper Allen of Plainfield North and Makensi Martin of Morris each had four votes.

Voting begins at 5 a.m. every Monday and concludes at noon every Wednesday. Coaches are encouraged to send nominations to sports@theherald-news.com, and the nominees are selected by the Herald-News sports staff.

Harvey answered a few questions from Herald-News sports writer Rob Oesterle.

Your team is having a very good season so far. Is that what you expected?

Harvey: We were pretty confident, with the returning players we have, that we could build off what we did last year.

What is it like as a setter to have the options your team has as far as hitters?

Harvey: It’s great to have those options. Madison [Shroba] and Cydney [Anderson] are our two main hitters, but we still have a lot of other players that can put the ball down. If Madison or Cydney are drawing a lot of attention, I have all the confidence that the other girls will put it down if I set it to them.

How has your team’s passing helped you?

Harvey: Our defense gets the ball to me in really good shape. Our libero [Kate Mottlow] had a 3.0 [perfect score] on serve receive in our match against Downers Grove South. It makes my job super easy when they get the ball to me like that.

What are your team’s goals this season?

Harvey: The main one is to break the school record for wins in a season, which is 25. We finished second in the conference last year, so we would like to finish one better there, too. Really, we just concentrate on getting 1% better every day and focusing on every match.

Your team won the program’s first regional title last year. What do you hope for in the postseason this year?

Harvey: We want to win another regional, for sure. Then, we’ll take it one match at a time. The ultimate goal is to play in the finals at Redbird Arena.

Does your team get along well?

Harvey: Oh, yeah. We are a close-knit group. This is the closest team I have been on. We hang out outside of volleyball. After a match, we will be discussing where to go get something to eat, stuff like that. We are a big family. We make sure we are all on top of things as far as our grades and what we’re doing outside of school.