As junior outside hitter Mackenzie Sloger and the Riverside Brookfield High School girls volleyball team continue earning recognition, the third-year varsity player also is progressing with her word of mouth.
“Last year, I didn’t talk as much as possible and this year I’m trying to communicate a lot, things I see across the net, what the other team is doing,” Sloger said.
While Sloger will gladly accept temporary silence Monday, Oct. 20, the Bulldogs once again made a statement in the Upstate Eight Conference East Division Thursday. They beat Glenbard South 25-17, 25-10 in Glen Ellyn to clinch a second straight outright title at 6-0 in their second year in the conference. The Bulldogs (15-9) won all six matches in two sets and never allowed more than 17 points in any set, which occurred three times.
“Obviously we had a lot of pressure coming in as the champions. Just really pushing through and showing we’re a team that can win it again was very important,” Sloger said. “Showing we’re kind of on top and that we intend to stay on top is important. Especially since there’s a lot of seniors that hadn’t been on the team last year, (they enjoyed) just having that experience of conference champs.”
Including the former Metro Suburban Conference, this is the Bulldogs’ third straight conference title and fourth straight year in which they’ve shared their division’s best record. The Bulldogs are the No. 10 seed in the upcoming Class 4A Lyons Township Sectional.
“We have a tough schedule but I think it’s just getting us better and more ready for postseason,” RBHS coach Caitlin Staib-Lipinski said earlier this season. “I’m still extremely proud with how we’re playing. We have good court chemistry and good off-court chemistry, which I think is really important.”
The Bulldogs have emphasized themes for home matches. On Monday, they will hold their first Silent Set against St. Francis to raise awareness for the hard of hearing and hearing loss community.
RBHS sophomore Demetra Foster will perform the national anthem in sign language. The court will be silent for the first nine points to honor uniform No. 9 worn by former Penn State volleyball player Jonni Parker, who has since founded Chasing Greatness to assist the hearing community.
“I’ve just noticed as teaching special education in the past nine years, every year I’ve had someone on my case load with hearing loss,” Staib-Lipinski said. “I thought (Silent Set) would be really cool because RB’s never done that before.”
Sloger, the Bulldogs’ only full-rotation player, leads in overall kills (169), service aces (35) and serve receptions (267) with 102 digs and 26 total blocks. Other standouts include senior and fourth-year varsity setter Claire Cameron (312 assists, 33 aces), seniors Ashlee Wudi (173 digs), Lucy Boyle (101 kills, 80 digs), Lillian Mills and Chloe Borkowicz and junior Asha Ponnappan (38 blocks). Cameron has been part of a two-setter offense with Foster (101 assists) or sophomore Nina Johnsen, both currently injured.
Sloger and Cameron were all-tournament at Plainfield North. Sloger also was all-tournament at Hoffman Estates.
“(Sloger) has great passing. She can read the ball well on defense. She’s hitting very well,” Staib-Lipinski said. “Her court awareness has gotten a lot stronger and that’s the big leap I’ve seen.”
LTHS girls volleyball
After a slow start to her season because of shoulder issues, junior outside hitter Taylor Carroll and the Lyons Township girls volleyball team now are in full swing. Their recent hot streak continued Oct. 8 with probably the biggest win so far – a 28-26, 20-25, 29-27 nail-biter at Oak Park and River Forest. Carroll (22 kills) and juniors Colleen Chambers (35 assists) and Julia Ahrens (19 digs) enjoyed single-match career or season highs.
The Lions (17-7, 3-1 in West Suburban Conference Silver Division) have won three straight and six of their last seven.
“I would think that was probably our best game we’ve played so far,” Carroll said. “It was definitely very back and forth. Both teams were really, really fighting for it. Those are the best games. We’ve been working in practice to finish games when we’re in the lead.”
The victory also created a three-way tie for the Silver lead with the Huskies (15-5, 3-1) and Downers Grove North (17-8, 3-1), which beat the Lions 25-15, 16-25, 25-13 Sept. 9. In 2024, LTHS lost to OPRF in a three-set 4A regional final. This season, the No. 4-seeded Lions and top-seeded Huskies would meet in the Lyons Township Sectional semifinals.
“That would be another good game. Hopefully we can keep our good serving and hitting up,” Chambers said. “I think that our serve receive was a lot better in the third set, which helped us stay in system more. We were able to get a lot of middle kills and the outside kills were amazing. (Ahrens) played amazing. She was getting every ball up.”
Senior Kate Heatherly (8 digs, 19-for-19 serve receptions) joined Ahrens (25-for-27 serve receptions) in the back-row excellence. Other contributors included sophomore Ula Garbauskas (4 kills, 6 blocks), freshman Olivia Pora (5 kills, 5 blocks) and seniors Emma O’Brien (6 kills) and Kate Potter (2 kills, 3 blocks, 2 aces).
Carroll’s 22 kills came on 46 attacks with four errors (.391 percentage). She also had two aces and eight digs. Carroll now has a season-high 141 kills, followed by O’Brien (139) and Pora (124). Carroll has 104 over the last eight matches, starting with her first “full-swing” match Sept. 18.
“Getting used to playing with Colleen again and knowing our defenders have my back if I get blocked, it gives you a little confidence when you swing away. I was just happy to put some balls down (against OPRF),” Carroll said.
“It feels like now we’re kind of settling in a little bit (as a team). We have had a great October so far.”
