Plainfield Girls Lead Way For JCA Volleyball

Three former Joliet Catholic Academy volleyball players – Kelly Murphy, Alyssa Warren and Lainey Wyman – were honored as players of the week Monday by major conferences.

Murphy, a Wilmington native, was named Offensive Player of the Week by the SEC for her performance against Mississippi State. The senior right-side hitter/setter for Florida had 10 kills, 19 assists and 11 digs in notching her third triple-double of the year. She hit .526 vs. the Bulldogs.

Wyman, a Homer Glen native and Plainfield resident, was named Freshman of the Week by the SEC. The conference’s total blocks leader as rookie middle for Mississippi State, she had 26 kills, hit. 276 and had 7 block kills against Florida and South Carolina.

Warren, a Joliet resident, was named Big East Player of the Week. The sophomore libero is the first Seton Hall volleyball player to earn the award. She set a career-high with 5 aces vs. Hofstra and then set a school mark with 45 digs vs. Boston College.

Annemarie Hickey, an Oswego native, is a sophomore libero in the Big Ten for Wisconsin. She is leading the Badgers with 4.74 digs per set and had a career-high 25 digs vs. Notre Dame. She added career-bests in aces (5, vs. Charleston Southern) and assists (4, vs. Furman).

Hickey, Warren and Wyman started for JCA’s back-to-back state championship teams.

“I think it’s amazing our girls have gone on to have such success at the highest levels of college ball,” JCA coach Christine Scheibe said. “We’re in contact with them all the time, we’re so proud of their accomplishments, and it says a lot about themselves, their families and the entire JCA volleyball family.”

UNBEATEN ANGELS: Evansville-bound senior setter Lauren Robertson (Wilmington) played for the first time since Game 1 against Minooka on Aug. 31 as JCA jumped to a 20-7 lead in the opener before easing in the East Suburban Catholic Conference to a 25-14, 25-16 victory Tuesday over host Fenwick.

Robertson had three of the Angels’ 16 kills in a Game 2 that saw JCA lead 11-6, 13-8, 19-13 and 23-14. JCA (12-0, 2-0) produced 27 attack kills, 5 block kills and 3 aces to overwhelm the Friars (4-7, 0-3).

Senior outside Kelly Feigh (Plainfield) led with 6 kills, 7 digs and 2 block kills, while senior middle Hailey Pennington (Plainfield) had 6 kills and 2 block kills. Junior setter Mallory Mangun added 10 assists, 8 digs and 5 points. Junior outside Morgan Reardon, senior middle Gianna Lincoln and senior setter Emily Schoenstedt (Plainfield) also tallied 4 kills and Schoenstedt notched 9 assists. Senior libero Jill Hickey contributed 11 points, including the first 8 points to start the match.

“Because of our serve-receive, we were able to run our offense quite well,” Scheibe said. “Jill got us the momentum in Game 1 with her consistent, aggressive serving and we played solid defense throughout.”