Sports

Tigers New Coach Has Roaring Expectations

Head coach Tracey Marshall, players offer insight into upcoming Plainfield North volleyball season.

After just five years of competition, Plainfield North High School's Tigers have established themselves as a girls volleyball powerhouse in the Suburban Prairie Conference, winning three conference trophies.

This year, a new coach — Tracey Marshall, an experienced volleyball player and coach — is at the helm. A graduate of Downers Grove South High School, Marshall played volleyball for the University of Illinois Fighting Illini and at the professional level. She has coached in Bettendorf, Iowa, at Downers Grove South High School and for several club teams.

She brings a wealth of experience to the team that has her players excited. 

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"I love Coach Marshall and the work ethic she brings to the team," senior Hannah Crippen said. "We're starting with a clean slate from last year, so I really expect our underclassmen to do a great job."

So far, the season has been mixed with the Tigers ranking fourth in their opening tournament this past weekend. They claimed victories over St. Charles (26-24, 25-17) and Plainfield Central (25-23, 25-20), but but lost to Providence Catholic High School in New Lenox (13-25, 25-23, 10-25). The team's next game is in two weeks.

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The team has two seniors with verbal commitments to the Big Ten, and Marshall believes the team has Division I-caliber players across the board.

"We are a stacked team this year with some excellent talent," Marshall said. "We have the potential to go to state for the first time in the school's history."

"We are a better, stronger team this year," senior Kaisley Fisher said.

Fisher and Crippen both are committed to Big Ten schools —Fisher set to go to Purdue and Crippen to Northwestern.  Both players are co-captains along with junior Alex Maraszalek.

"I'm so excited to have been made a captain this year," Maraszalek said.

The Tigers also feature an All-American junior libero in Sammy Basar. A libero, for those unfamiliar with volleyball, is a defensive specialist.

Basar played at Disney's Wide World of Sports in Orlando, Fla., for the Junior Olympics this past summer.

"We had a great crowd and it was a great experience in a really nice gym," she said.

And while the senior and junior leadership brings experience, the team also features some youth on the varsity squad with a sophomore and a freshman on the roster.

Freshman Dakota Santore and sophomore Alyssa Bollock each were chosen by their upper-classmen teammates to be part of what could be a fantastic season at Plainfield North.

Marshall said she is extremely excited about both players and expects good things in the future. Santor so impressed her teammates they elected her to the starting lineup.


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