Notable Upsets from Week 8 of High School Volleyball

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Week 8 was one of the most exciting weeks of regular season play we have seen in the Chicagoland area so far. As the second to last week before the beginning of playoffs, programs are preparing with some big competition in preparation for the first round of playoffs. Whether it was regular season matches in the conference, or a match-up in a tournament over the weekend, multiple top programs in the state were upset this week by teams who showed up ready to compete. Here are the top three upsets from week 8 of Chicagoland high school volleyball:</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Glenbard West Defeats #4 Lyons Township HS</strong> <em>(2 Sets: 25-16 and 25-22)</em></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Top-ranked Lyons Township hosted Glenbard West for their senior night last Tuesday. Despite not having the home-court advantage, Glenbard West showed up committed to fighting no matter the circumstances. Haydon Green, a senior setter for Glenbard West did a great job distributing the offense to make them the most successful as possible. Needless to say, Green's strategy worked as she added 21 assists and four kills of her own to the scoreboard for Glenbard West. Breccan Scheck led the team's offensive production with 6 kills from her 9 total attempts. Flawless in her front-row execution, Scheck did not error in any of her attempts, hitting a high efficiency of 0.667 for the match. Senior libero, [player_tooltip player_id='225830' first='Demi' last='Carpio'] took complete control of the defense for the match picking up 16 digs in the two-set match, averaging 8 digs in each set. There wasn't a spot on the court that Carpio couldn't cover which is what kept Lyons Townships' offense scrambling for new shots to find. Her serve receive was also steady throughout the match, passing a 2.38 and only passing two and three level passes, keeping her side's offense in system. [player_tooltip player_id='135958' first='Avery' last='Herbert'], a junior for Glenbard West put away the most kills and helped lead to the win with 7 kills, hitting at an efficiency of .200. Needless to say, Glenbard West showed up ready to make a name for themselves, and surely they did. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Oak Park River Forest Defeats #3 Benet Academy</strong> <em>(2 Sets: 25-22 and 27-25)</em></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Oak Park had quite a busy week with the matchups they had early on followed by a big tournament weekend at the 2022 Autumnfest Invite which was hosted by Glenbard East and Glenbard West. Following their successful two matches of pool play on Friday night, they were set up to play #3 ranked Benet Academy first thing Saturday morning. While the scores were close in the end, Oak Park showed up ready to compete no matter who was on the other side of the net. On the other side of the net, Benet clearly beats them when it comes to size, but Oak Park didn't second guess their abilities when the first whistle was blown. [player_tooltip player_id='135950' first='Grace' last='Nelson'] put away 13 kills with her fast arm swing that beat any block who was late to press their hand over into Nelson's territory. Just shy of a double-double in a two-set match, Nelson added 8 digs to the team's defense keeping Oak Park in extended rallies. Ella Hullinger, a junior outside hitter produced the next-highest in kills, putting away 6 kills. [player_tooltip player_id='199551' first='Reese' last='Garland'] is a name we have been seeing more often as her play has continued to grow throughout her senior season. Her blocking has been a huge part of bringing Oak Park higher in the rankings and against Benet, she contributed 3 kills from the middle and two solo blocks. [player_tooltip player_id='135953' first='Kinsey' last='Smith'] does a great job of finding her hot hitters and continuing to keep them as active as possible giving them and the team confidence in their overall play. Smith racked up 22 assists in the match and was one dig away from having a double-double for the match.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Willowbrook Defeats #5 Lincoln-Way East</strong> (2 Sets: 25-21 and 25-23)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Lincoln-Way East hosted a tournament this last weekend, but having the home-court advantage was not enough to hold them on top. Heading into the championship match, Willowbrook was looking to extend their 24-match winning streak, and in a swift two-set sweep over Lincoln-Way East, Willowbrook took home the championship but not without exceptional play from their team to make it there. Now with their winning streak officially hitting 25 matches, Willowbrook's all-around team play is what is extending their success this far into the season. In the championship match, [player_tooltip player_id='288634' first='Hannah' last='Kenny'] and [player_tooltip player_id='311933' first='Calli' last='Kenny'] both contributed double-doubles. Both sisters contributed 12 kills apiece, with Calli's hitting efficiency being .348 and Hannah's being .611 for the match. Calli and Hannah's number of kills and hitting percentages overpowered any statistical category seen by any hitter for Lincoln-Way East. Calli's focus in defense helped her rack up 12 digs to extend plays for Willowbrook. [player_tooltip player_id='225983' first='Hope' last='Reckamp'] found herself contributing in more ways than one, with her addition of two clean kills and two blocks that helped hold off Lincoln-Way East's offense. Grace Conley helped ease the flow of the front-row offense with her steady serve-receive passes and her contribution of 8 digs and 8 assists for the set. Compared to Lincoln-Way East's 5 reception errors, Willowbrook had only two, keeping their offense in system and composed. Following the upset, [player_tooltip player_id='288634' first='Hannah' last='Kenny'] was named All-Tournament Team, and her sister Calli walked away as the tournament [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='']. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->