Six-rotation

Geneva's Kelsey Augustine evolves her all-round game

K.C. Johnsen's only regret is that he didn't make the move sooner.

"She's just a very good, athletic kid," the Geneva volleyball coach said of senior middle blocker Kelsey Augustine. "She's very quick, very fast, moves so well and has long arms so she covers a lot of ground on defense."

The 6-foot-1 senior has always been a strong at hitting, blocking and serving. Until this season, though, the third-year varsity player was limited primarily to the front row. She often went to the bench in favor of a defensive specialist after rotating to the back row and completing her serving duties.

"Since this past club season, I've played back row more (with her Kane County Juniors team)," said Augustine, a Southern Illinois University recruit who has enjoyed developing her all-around game.

"It was tough in the beginning but it's gotten easier."

The future Saluki has topped 200 kills this season for the Vikings, who have again hit the 30-win mark. She's pushing 50 blocks and more than 30 aces, but also has more than 125 digs.

"She's developed into a pretty solid back defender," said Johnsen, who hopes her strong play continues in the postseason that starts Thursday for the Vikings at the Addison Trail Regional.

"She's evolved into a six-rotation player."

Geneva is the second seed in the Class 4A Sectional it hosts and hopes to improve upon last year's 30-8 season that ended with the program's seventh regional title in the past 10 years.

The Vikings were eliminated from the playoffs 26-24, 25-21 by Elmhurst York in a sectional semifinal. If the seeds play out, the two teams should meet again in a sectional semifinal.

Augustine said the senior-dominated Vikings "don't want to look past or underestimate anyone. We want to go to state, and I'd love to play (defending state champ) St. Charles East (for a sectional title), but we can't look past regional."

If the Vikings do advance further, look for Augustine to continue to play a key role.

"She's one of our primary passers," said Johnsen. "It's usually her and (NIU recruit) Lauren (Wicinski) and Grace Burns with a pretty big share of digs each night, depending on what the other team does.

"And Kelsey is probably one of the two best middle blockers I've had here. Amy Bevins, who went on to play at Eastern Carolina was strong, too."

Augustine has also grown to appreciate back-row play, too.

"It's a lot different than being a front-row player," she said. "It's surprising how different it is. It's more tiring, I think. There's more technique. You have to know where you should be on the court, know what your other players are doing so it's more of a team (effort).

"You have to communicate because you can see the whole court. You have to be loud and tell your hitters in front what you're do and what shots are open."