SPORTS RECAP: Girls volleyball loses at Regionals

As the fall sports season comes to a conclusion, the girl’s volleyball team ended the campaign on a sour note. The Bulldogs lost to the Lemont Indians on October 25^th in their regional game. The Indians defeated the Bulldogs in two sets, with scores of 25-21 and 25-14.

“Where we went wrong was probably our passing, it wasn’t as crisp as it usually is. We have to give Lemont a ton of credit though, they played a great game,” said Senior Elena Duve.

The loss to Lemont was disappointing because of all the expectations coming into the season. The girls concluded the season with a 21-14 record, including a 7-5 mark in conference. The loss concludes a season full of memories that include Senior Night against Illiana Christian and the Volley for the Cure game which raised over $5,000.

Senior Night was somewhat disappointing because the girls lost in two sets to a strong Viking team from Illiana Christian. The loss didn’t dim the night though; RB celebrated the storied careers of all the seniors including Meghan Orgler, Elena Duve, and Alleigh Vandemerkt.

Coach Dan Bonarigo will be losing the bulk of his starting lineup next year, but with the emergence of junior Lizzie Hawk at setter and a strong sophomore class coming in, expectations will be high next season. Amy Frey and Natalie Gardiner will be making the jump to the Varsity squad next year, and are expected to contribute in a big way.

All in all, the girls had a successful season with many highlights along the way. It seems as if the program is heading in the right direction with a great coaching staff and a strong class of freshman and sophomores coming to the forefront next year.

Here are some stats from the season:

Elena Duve: 180 kills, 28 aces, 170 digs, and 8 blocks

Alleigh Vandemerkt: 78 kills, 287 assists, 31 aces, 183 digs, and 11 blocks

Meghan Orgler: 109 kills, 15 aces, 37 digs, and 17 blocks.

Lizzie Hawk: 320 assists, 66 aces, and 147 digs

SPORTS UPDATE: Playoffs in sight for Girls volleyball

As expected, the girls’ volleyball team has lived up to all the hype coming into the season. Coming into 2011-2012, they were expected to compete for the Metro Suburban Conference title, and at this pace, it looks as if RB will bring home another title.

The girls have started the season 13-7 overall and are 4-1 in conference play with victories over Elmwood Park, Fenton, and Ridgewood. 

After losing a bulk of the starters from last year to graduation, Alleigh VandeMerkt and Elena Duve have stepped up their play to lead the Bulldogs. Both girls have been named Athlete of the Week because of their stellar play and leadership on the court.

Playing through a shoulder injury for the past two and a half weeks, VandeMerkt has toughed it out and continued to bring home victories for RB. Against OPRF, she had 10 assists, 6 kills and 12 digs in a huge road win.

Sophomore Amanda Lelivelt has really come on lately with her excellent play at middle hitter. She contributed with 4 kills in a victory over Elmwood Park.

The Dogs have several tournaments coming up including the Wilmington High School Fall Classic on October 8^th and the Maine West Pumpkin Invite on October 14^th and 15^th.

On the 20^th, the final regular season game, RB takes on Morton in the annual “Volley for the Cure” game. In the past four years, RB has raised over $13,000, all of which goes towards Breast Cancer research.

Volley for life

Breast cancer attacks over two hundred thousand woman every year. Though it’s 100 times more likely for women to get breast cancer, guys can get it to. This is one of the reasons why RB takes part in The Volley for the Cure. Elizabeth Fredlund, the head coach of RB’s girls freshman volley ball team said,” Volley for the Cure is an important event to raise money for the Susan G. Komen foundation. The volley ball program is raising funds for cancer research & awareness. The girls are enjoying participating and working together to help this worthy cause.”

This is the second annual Volley for the Cure RB has taken a part of and they plan to do this for many years to come. The actual game is on Wednesday October 21^st at Morton East. The admission is five bucks for the game and all proceeds will go to the Susan G. Komen Foundation. The game starts at five o’clock and all levels of RB and Morton girls volleyball will be participating. Though they may be the only teams in this tournament they are not the only high schools who do Volley for the Cure.

The main reason for Volley for the cure is to raise money for the Susan G. Komen Foundation. This foundation is helping trying to find the cure for breast cancer. “I think women with breast cancer should be helped an collaborated to: and I like helping a cause like Volley for the Cure,” said Freshman Stephanie Lanbruschin .

RB is going to raise money by doing a few things. They are going to sell long sleeve and short sleeve t-shirts. The long sleeves will be thirteen dollars and the short sleeve will be ten dollars. The shirts are going to be black with pink writing on it. You can buy one from Mr. Bonarigo at room 208 staring on October 19^th.

RB is also having a bake sale form October 19-21 all lunches. They will be selling cookies, brownies, cupcakes, rice krispy treats and puppy chow. So bring some extra money to school on the 19^th through the 21^st. not only are you helping out breast cancer your also getting something yummy.

We are also doing pledges for serves. This is when people donate a certain amount of money per every serve the girl does. They are going to have every girl serve so they can all help raise money.

So come show your support to this worthy cause and to the RB’s girl volleyball teams on October 21^st.  To learn more about either breast cancer or the foundation go to www.komen.org.