Dream born from JCA theme

Joliet Catholic's (from left) Claire Randich, Annemarie Hickey and Gina Vera talk between points last week during their match against Lemont.
(Michael R. Schmidt/Herald News)

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NORMAL -- At some point, Christine Scheibe had a choice to make.

The coach of Joliet Catholic Academy's volleyball team could fall into a funk following the departure of the No. 1 player in the nation. She could Google the lyrics of a rock band from her infant past and hum a few bars of Three Dog Night's 1969 hit.

"It's just no good anymore ... Since you went away-ay-ay ... Now I spend my time ... Making rhymes of yesterday ... One is the loneliest number."

Or Scheibe could pick up the pieces and carry on without Kelly Murphy, the young phenom who led the Angels to two Class AA state tournament appearances and record of 107-19 in a three-year span from 2005-07.

After being named national Gatorade Player of the Year as a senior at JCA, Murphy went on to the University of Florida and almost instantly cracked into the Gators' starting lineup. Scheibe cheered her success and moved up with her job.

She devised a theme for the Angels to deal with the loss of Murphy and printed practice T-shirts for the Angels that were emblazoned with bold black letters and adorned with a two-pronged message. Her girls put on the T-shirts and bought into an ideal before they ever put on their game faces.

Now, on the final weekend of the high school volleyball season, they are playing for that No. 1 finish that they tirelessly have worked for and so brazenly dreamed of turning into a reality. The evidence was right there all along, a few curious observers occasionally peering into the gym at JCA and wondering out loud, "What's that all about."

Senior right-side hitter and captain Katie Hickey has an explanation for the simple slogan screaming from below her chin: "We Are Angels and We are One."

"Well, this year, we have practice shirts that say that phrase on it," she said. "We wear them every day. It's about team unity. We're all there to support each other. We practice together. We do everything together. It's basically our team motto that keeps us going.

"Yeah, I think it's especially important after losing a great player like Kelly (Murphy). We knew we were going to have to make up for her loss of talent. So, coming together and working together, we picked up from where we left off."

Few saw the Angels' rise coming. In the preseason, they were overlooked and unranked in many state polls. They were not discouraged.

"Yeah, that most definitely was a motivation, to go out there and prove things to people," senior setter and captain Gina Vera said. "We were underrated. I don't think that's fair to our program. I think we've had an extremely great program the last couple of years. But it only gave us determination to get out there and show that we're better than people were saying."

JCA (37-3) has climbed to No. 9 in this week's ESPN national high school volleyball poll. The Angels face Breese Mater Dei (35-5) at 5:30 p.m. today in a semifinal match of the 3A state tournament at ISU's Redbird Arena. The Lady Knights have an outside hitter -- Laura Thole -- who has been likened to JCA's Annemarie Hickey because of her all-around ability.

Thole is a 5-foot-9 senior who has racked up 340 kills, 309 digs, 76 blocks and 22 service aces.

"No, we didn't look at any tape, but we talked a little bit about them last night," JCA's Annemarie Hickey said earlier this week. "We were just talking about one of the girls. No. 21, I guess, is their best hitter. Mrs. Scheibe was telling us about her. Mrs. Scheibe mentioned she's a little like me because she does that little tip I do in the front row.

"I guess she's a strong hitter, too. So, that's all I really know. But I guess they have a good defense. So, we're going to have to come out and play hard."

Scheibe, who is in her ninth year coaching at JCA, will insist her Angels put forth their best effort and then let the chips fall where they may -- just like always. She has enjoyed coaching a group that has taken to coaching and come to grips with a concept others might dismiss as old or trite. She has taught her Angels the sum of their parts is what makes them whole.

"One of the things we wanted to establish right from the very beginning of the season was the one concept and that it had a dual meaning for us," Scheibe said. "One meaning of it was there were no individuals on this team, that together we come together and make one team. We were asking some girls to sacrifice that starting position or to become team members, basically to become a unit of one.

"The other 'one' we had in mind was that's where we wanted to finish at the end of the season was No. 1. So, we've put ourselves in a position to do that. And hopefully we can get the job done this weekend."

Afterward, Katie Hickey will depart with fond memories of JCA volleyball bus rides, of playing music and of singing songs with her friends.

"And playing with Kelly Murphy obviously was a great experience," she said. "And playing with my sister, too."

Vera will be off to Butler, her college room, board and tuition paid for by a volleyball scholarship. She has plans to major in international business management and minor in Spanish.

"I want to travel the world and be very active," she said.

Her dream is to depart with a championship in hand.

"I was at the 2003 state championship match -- as a fan," Vera said. "To see those girls out there -- I was a little girl. I think I was in seventh grade. I was good family friends with Lauren Las and the Quigleys. To see them go through that -- I can't wait to get down there because this is our year, our time.

"I didn't want to leave JCA without a state championship. I've come close twice, and this is my last chance. I'm going to put everything out there on the floor. I'm so excited to have the opportunity again."

Back at JCA, Scheibe will be challenged to come up with a new rallying cry.

"I think teams in the past might have felt that pressure because of Kelly (Murphy) and having the No. 1 player in the nation on our team," she said. "People expect a lot out of that. This group was able to come in this year without any expectations on them and have just been able to play their style of volleyball all year long and have proven that as team -- together, without that one superstar player -- they can accomplish a lot."