Freshman Yorkville team, 62-1 since 2022, breaks through

This past Saturday, the Freshman Yorkville Foxes took 1st Place in the Batavia/GLC Freshman Invitational. Teams included: Benet, Marist, Geneva, Neuqua Valley, Oswego, Oswego East, Plainfield Central, Kaneland, Bolingbrook, West Aurora, St. Viator, Yorkville, Naperville North, Wheaton North, Cary-Grove, St. Francis, Batavia, St. Ed's, and East Aurora.   The championship game featured Benet Academy vs. Yorkville High School, and it was a fantastic matchup. Last year, in this same tournament, Benet Academy came out on top. Throughout the day Benet looked really good — they were extremely talented all through their rotation. Their outside hitters were spectacular, showing great swings, verticals, and athleticism. Their setter had great size and a fantastic touch, dropping dimes to her hitters. Their right-side hitter, with a left-handed swing, also brought the hammer. The Yorkville Foxes cruised for the most part throughout the day but did run into a tough Naperville North team, who played them very well with scrappy defense.   A lot of people in the volleyball world know Benet Academy. They have produced countless Division I college volleyball players over the years and have been a perennial powerhouse in Illinois and nationally. Yorkville High School, however, you may not know as much about. Yorkville is a city within the Chicago Metropolitan Area in Kendall County, tucked between Oswego, Aurora, and Plano. Their team is comprised of club players from [program_tooltip program_id='429203' first='Digtown' last='Volleyball'] Academy, Cyclones, Lions Jr's, and Sports Performance, to name a few. The Yorkville Foxes went undefeated (48-0) in their middle school careers but lost one game early this season, in a non-conference game. Right now they stand at 14-1, with two tournament championships: the Freshman Spartan Invite and the Batavia/GLC Freshman Invitational.   The championship game between Benet and Yorkville had the feel of a club tournament, with both teams ready to go. Yorkville got out to a nice lead on Benet, but Benet stormed back to make it a very close first set. The Foxes pulled it out, 27-25. In the second set, Benet was all business and firing on all cylinders. Their serves came hard over the net, while their hitting and serve receive cleaned up, making them tough to deal with. They jumped out to a big lead and kept it, winning 25-16.   Nothing beats a third set in volleyball — anything can happen! The Yorkville Foxes jumped out to a 4-1 lead and kept a 2–3 point cushion most of the way. Benet cut it to 12-11, but Yorkville broke away, winning 15-11. Benet had some unforced hitting and serving errors, which was just enough to keep them behind. The Foxes played scrappy and got timely hitting out of their outside and middle hitters throughout the match.   It was a fantastic game to watch. I want to highlight some of the players from the championship team, the Yorkville Foxes!   <hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity"/>    You can stick this girl anywhere on the court and she will help your squad. She was fantastic during the tournament. Playing all around and making plays at every position. She delivered powerful and smart hits as an OH and made great passes in serve receive. She reads hitters well while covering in the front row or getting digs in the back. She played fantastic in the championship game vs Benet as well, tooling the block on hits and smashing some down the line and in the corners. She is a player to watch.     This girl is a problem for opposing teams. She has a nice vertical and smarts through the roof delivering kills in the corner or tips over outstretched hands at the net. She has a fantastic feel for the game at the MH/MB position. She is a hitter you can rely on to get you points. She had fantastic timing with her setters running different plays and hitting from multiple spots on the court. She also had great energy on the court which her teammates fed into. Had some great kills in crucial moments in multiple games.     Raegan was Yorkville's Libero and she was great during the tournament. She did a great job in serve receive and made multiple diving plays and dug some hard hit balls. Watched her dig a OH hit from Benet that was smashed, she landed a perfect 3 pass to the setter, that led to a kill late in the 1st set. She also did a terrific job setting up hitters when the setter was out as well. She sniffs out tips, and delivered great passes off some tough hits. Type of Libero you want on your squad.      This girl was a force for the Foxes all tournament long. Delivering big kills in her games played at the MH/MB position. She had some huge kills in the championship game against Benet and also played very smart on the court. She can give you a quick snap of the wrist kill, little cut shot kill or a tip over the hands. She also has a nice top spin serve that is hard to handle. Bella also did a nice job at the net keeping plays alive with her quick reflexes if a ball was blocked or jousted at the net. She came up big for the Foxes!     Amaya played a big role in the teams success over the tournament run. She did a great job covering in the front row making diving plays and keeping points alive. She had multiple aces with a great jump serve that gets both power and ball movement tricky to pass. She did a nice job playing some all around in serve receive and getting kills in the OH role. Her serves kept teams off balance and even got a set winning ace against Benet in the championship game. She delivered some big hits and made big plays.     Charlie does a great job running an offense as a setter. She is very athletic and can make all the sets. Back sets to her moving middles, to cross court sets to her Outside Hitters. She delivered many sets for kills and assists. She can keep defenses on their toes with quick sets, jump sets and with her serve that can get them out of system. She also can give you defensive plays and digs from right back and can score from the setter position as well. Another do it all player ... can help your team from anywhere.     Tessa did a great job in the back row in serve receive and digging balls for the foxes. She was always ready to move and react and made some nice plays for the team. Tessa made a great diving dig and even put a swing for a kill for game point to finish off one of the matches. She's the type of down and ready back row player you like in your lineup! She was consistent all day long and always ready to give it her all.     Harlan does a great job as that RS opposite hitter and causes problems at the net with blocking and touches. If you forget about the right side she will kill one on you fast. She does a nice job adjusting to sets and puts that ball down powerfully. I saw her get quite a few kills and was a big help for the Foxes! She has good length and pretty good bounce which makes her a problem for opposing teams.     Harper was a steady player for Yorkville. She was able to get some kills on the RS with her athleticism. She got some points for the team with a couple of roll shots and swings tracking some deep platform sets out of system. She's a good athlete who passes well out the back row as well. Good on defense and can help keep plays alive for the squad.     Ali had great sets during the tournament. She always looked composed and has a great set of hands. She has soft touch and was delivering dimes to her teammates. She has a nice serve as well which gets great down spin causing trouble for teams in serve receive. She made some great timing sets with her middle hitters and RS. Soft pair of hands and can set with her hands and platform when needed. Had some great sets in the championship game.    Coach Sawyer Jackson led the Freshman Yorkville Foxes to the tournament victory, saying, "They worked tirelessly in practice the previous week to prepare for the tournament, and he couldn't be prouder of how they performed. It was truly a special day - one he would never forget in his coaching career." Benet was a fantastic tea,m and all those players will go on to be great and win tons of games. But, on that Saturday night at the Great Lakes Center Batavia Freshman Invitational, the Yorkville Foxes gave it their all and came out on top. If you didn't know where Yorkville was or who they are ... maybe you know now!

This past Saturday, the Freshman Yorkville Foxes took 1st Place in the Batavia/GLC Freshman Invitational.
Teams included: Benet, Marist, Geneva, Neuqua Valley, Oswego, Oswego East, Plainfield Central, Kaneland, Bolingbrook, West Aurora, St. Viator, Yorkville, Naperville North, Wheaton North, Cary-Grove, St. Francis, Batavia, St. Ed's, and East Aurora.