Game-Changing Players and Results from the 2022 Blocktober Fest

Plainfield Central hosted its annual Blocktober Fest tournament over the weekend which had over 20 teams from all over the Chicagoland area competing against each other. Following the team's back-to-back matches Friday night which consisted of their pool play, they were placed into three brackets based on their finishes in those pools. Eight teams made it out of their pool play to be placed in the Gold bracket and fight to make it to that championship match. Naperville North, Plainfield North, and Bolingbrook came out with the top three finishes at this tournament with exceptional displays of athleticism from multiple players from each team.   2022 Blocktober Fest Champions- Naperville North High School (30-3 Overall, Conference 7-1)   Naperville North dropped a set early on in their first match-up on Friday against Oswego. The match Friday was close to what a championship match would look like based on how close the final scores were. Against Oswego, Naperville North took the first set on Friday 25-23, but the results of the second set were flipped and Oswego took set two at 25-23. Going into the third set, knowing how close the last two sets were, it could have been anyone's game and it was up until the final whistle was blown. Naperville North overcame Oswego and closed out the third set with the final score of 19-17. After this match, Naperville North had not lost another set on the weekend until they faced Plainfield North in the championship. Paige Lauterwasser, a senior outside hitter for Naperville North is a force to be reckoned with. Lauterwasser is a 6-foot hitter who is more than comfortable with taking swings from anywhere on the court, no matter the pin she finds herself on. The University of Wyoming commit was a huge piece of Naperville North's success in the championship match which is why she was named [program_tooltip program_id='430137' first='[program_tooltip program_id='432160' first='[program_tooltip program_id='432076' first='[program_tooltip program_id='430137' first='[program_tooltip program_id='429142' first='MVP' last='']' last='']' last='']' last='']' last=''] of the tournament. Liz Rossi and Leah Norris also represented Naperville North alongside Paige Lauterwasser on the 2022 Blocktober Fest All-Tournament team. Rossi and Norris had contributed a great amount of offensive success over the weekend and in the championship match which led to their 1st-place finish this year.   2nd Place- Plainfield North High School (24-9 Overall, Conference 8-1)   Plainfield North blew through their pool play Friday night which brought them directly into the Gold Bracket on Saturday. On Friday they had been matched up against Nazareth Academy and Sterling High School both matches of which were finished in clean two-set sweeps. Their first match Saturday morning was against Wheaton North which was another 2-set sweep for Plainfield North with the scores finishing at 25-16 and 25-20. In their semi-final match-up against Bolingbrook, the final scores were narrowed with the fight Bolingbrook had put up, but Plainfield North had taken the match in two. In the championship match, Lauren Jansen, an outside hitter who is committed to North Dakota State lead the team in kills, putting away a whopping 18 kills in three sets with a well-above-average hitting efficiency of 0.438 in the match. This performance from her was seen all weekend as she put away 47 kills in the 11 sets she played. Her consistency in the front row can be seen in her .367 hitting efficiency on the weekend, but she doesn't stop there. Throughout the weekend, she averaged 3.3 digs per set, with her contribution of 33 digs. Her offensive success is what makes her stand out and that can be credited to setter, [player_tooltip player_id='245003' first='Ella' last='Strausberger']. Ella led the offense all weekend putting up 113 assists, 33 digs, and 11 aces on her stat board. In the championship match, she averaged just about 11 assists per set, which combined with her overall performance at the tournament made her stand out compared to others she was up against. Jansen and Strausberger were selected to represent Plainfield North on the 2022 Blocktober Fest All-Tournament Team.   3rd Place- Bolingbrook High School (28-4 Overall, Conference 8-0)   Bolingbrook has had quite the season so far and that showed in how well they played this last weekend. Bolingbrook was in a four-team pool Friday night in which they handled the matches pretty easily, ready to put all their energy into the teams they would face in the gold bracket on Saturday. The first match they played Friday was against Aurora East, which they took the match in a clean two sets with the scores being 25-9 and 25-7. Following their first match, they handled their second match with ease as well, which put them in the Gold Bracket playing Genoa-Kingston first thing Saturday morning. The match-up against Genoa-Kingston finished in a thrilling three sets with Bolingbrook coming out on top. After their loss in the semi-finals, they regained control of their placement in the tournament and overpowered Whitney Young to take 3rd at the tournament. Throughout the weekend, Bolingbrook had multiple players who showed up ready to play and extend their success. Cydney Anderson, a 5'10" outside hitter put away 30 kills on the weekend and contributed 17 digs, but her frontcourt defense on the block took a huge step forward this tournament. Anderson added 6 solo blocks to her stats this weekend which now puts her at 24 blocks on the season. To balance out the front row and constantly have an offensive weapon for Bolingbrook, Madison Shroba does more than just get the job done. On the weekend, Shroba put away 36 kills with only 6 errors, bringing her efficiency to .323, which is exactly why she represents Bolingbrook on the Blocktober Fest All-Tournament Team.

Plainfield Central hosted its annual Blocktober Fest tournament over the weekend which had over 20 teams from all over the Chicagoland area competing against each other. Following the team's back-to-back matches Friday night which consisted of their pool play, they were placed into three brackets based on their finishes in those pools. Eight teams made it out of their pool play to be placed in the Gold bracket and fight to make it to that championship match. Naperville North, Plainfield North, and Bolingbrook came out with the top three finishes at this tournament with exceptional displays of athleticism from multiple players from each team.