The York girls volleyball team has the best of both worlds.
The Dukes return a good chunk of key contributors from last year’s team that went 20-16 overall and also welcome a good contingent with plenty of talent.
York was 4-3 overall through its first seven matches.
Key returners for coach Patty Iverson’s squad include sophomore outside hitter Gigi Barr, who put up 232 kills and 116 digs last season. Also back are seniors Jessica Levy (outside hitter), Asha Labine (middle blocker) and Sophia Glabus (middle blocker). Levy had 178 kills and 174 digs last year, while Labine had 86 kills and 67 blocks. Glabus, who is committed to Gannon University in Philadelphia, had 67 kills and 50 blocks in 2017.
Senior setter Sam Kao and senior defensive specialist Sarah Baird also return.
Key newcomers include sophomores Grace Meadows (setter, outside hitter), Katie Norgle (outside hitter-defensive specialist) and Stella Barr (right-side hitter).
“We have some very good athletes this year and a mix of seniors and sophomores predominantly ,so we are working toward playing consistently strong and making a cohesive team with our younger players who are performing very well,” said Iverson. “The group is really hard-working and committed to improving and we have shown steady improvement in our matches so far this season.”
York opened play in the Wheaton North tournament where it lost to Naperville North (25-23, 25-15) and defeated Glenbard South 25-21, 28-30, 25-9 in pool play and then lost to Montini (25-22, 25-19) and Kaneland (25-20, 19-25, 27-25) and beat Buffalo Grove (25-21, 25-18) in the tournament.
“It was a strong tournament and while we did not play consistently throughout the tournament, our play was very good at times, giving us a goal of consistency at that level,” said Iverson.
York also downed Addison Trail (25-22, 25-21) in a West Suburban Conference crossover match and Evanston (25-14, 25-21) in a non-conference contest. Both matches were on the road.
“We’re still working on skills and tactics, but the girls are working really hard to improve all aspects of their game so I am happy with our progress,” said Iverson.
