Bulldogs improve with win over North Chicago

Waukegan's Tori Bates bumps one up as teammate Victoria Drasler (23) and North Chicago's Deja Barlow wait.
(Michael Schmidt/News-Sun)

Font Size

Email

Bookmark

Black Text

White Text

WAUKEGAN -- Since it has knocked off all four North Suburban Conference Prairie Division clubs it has faced this season, Waukegan High's girls volleyball team easily would challenge for that league's title.

But the Bulldogs aren't a member of the NSC Prairie. They reside in the challenging Central Suburban League South Division.

Click to enlarge image

MSCHMIDT?MSCHMIDT@SCN1.COM Waukegan High defensive specialist Tori Bates advances the ball as teammate Vicki Drasler (No. 23) and North Chicago's Deja Barlow keep an eye on the action.

After beating visiting North Chicago (an NSC Prairie team) on Monday 25-11, 25-10, Waukegan improved its record to 12-5. But the Bulldogs are only 2-3 after the first round of matches in the CSL South.

While competition is tough among the big schools in the league, Waukegan coach Rachel Wiatrowski knows her team should be doing better.

"We need to find a way to finish out matches in our conference," she said. "Hopefully, we will do better the second time around, and that starts (on Tuesday) at Maine South."

Even though the Bulldogs had the superior firepower in defeating the Warhawks on Monday, they also tried to learn something from the match to prepare for the rest of the season.

"We talked much better all over the court, and we moved much better," said Wiatrowski. "Little things like that will make a big difference if we can do it all the time."

Junior hitters Katie O'Connor (5 kills), Sarah Angelos (7 kills) and Amy Angelos (3 kills) dominated at the net, while Torie Drasler and Morgan Cappo both had lengthy service runs.

"We refocused our goals for the rest of the season after our loss to Glenbrook South (last Wednesday)," said Wiatrowski. "We are taking it match by match now, and not looking ahead for the rest of the conference and the state tournament.

"I think the girls are determined to make improvements in the second half of the season."

North Chicago hasn't won a match this season, which coach Ed Wrather contributes to his team's youth and inexperience.

"The girls have some potential, but they are going to have to want to work at it during the summer in order to get better," he said. "It's not going to get handed to them, but they have a good opportunity to improve."

PREP GIRLS VOLLEYBALL