LT Sports Roundup: Three Volleyball Players Sign, Football Finally Falls to Loyola

Alexis Viliunas, Laura Williams and Megan Miller accomplished one last thing together Wednesday as Lyons Township girls volleyball players.

At , the four-year varsity standouts simultaneously signed their NCAA Division I letters of intent to play collegiate volleyball. 

Viliunas received a full scholarship to play at the University of Illinois in the Big Ten Conference. Williams and Miller were recruited initially as preferred walk-ons at Atlantic Coast Conference programs Duke University (Durham, N.C.) and Wake Forest University (Winston-Salem N.C.), respectively, but have the opportunities to be put on full scholarship. 

“It definitely feels really good,” Miller said. “It was a really stressful time, this time last year, so now a year later it’s kind of crazy that it’s all over with.”

The trio helped the Lions win the 2010 Class 4A state championship after taking second in 2009 and two other appearances in the super-sectional. They were the only returning starters for this year’s team (30-9), which lost a great 25-22, 21-25, 25-13 match with Marist (34-6) at the Hinsdale South Super-Sectional Saturday.

Setter/hitter Viliunas is the program’s leader in career assists (2,202) with 644 this season and 693 as a freshman. 

Miller, the primary libero the past two seasons, is the leader in career digs (1,193) with a personal-best 556 this season and 543 in 2010. Williams (993) a nearby second after 272 this season and 376 in 2010 and leads the trio with 209 service aces after 53 this season and 65 in 2010. 

Over their four seasons, LT compiled a 136-27 record.

“This senior group really has achieved more than any senior group had,” LT coach Joann Pyritz said. “I think their leadership on the floor as peers and skills floor made a huge contribution. Also (at super-sectionals) you saw a high level of class by the entire team. There was a great deal of poise by younger players in a very pressure-packed match. We put it all together and had a lot of good things going on, even though we weren’t the victor.” 

Wednesday was the first day in which high-school volleyball players were allowed to sign. Those attending included the players’ parents, Pyritz, LT assistant coach George Ushela and 1st Alliance Volleyball Club director Sue Keck. The trio played for different 1st Alliance teams this past club season with Viliunas earning All-America honors at the Amateur Athletic Union nationals.   

The 6-foot-1 Viliunas verbally committed to Illinois way back during the fall of her sophomore year and is expected to run the Illini’s one-setter offense. Older brother Eddie is a tight end on the Illini football team, recently being put on scholarship.

This season, the Illini started the season 20-0 and ranked No. 1 in the American Volleyball Coaches Association poll.  Currently, they are 22-3 (11-3 in Big Ten) and ranked No. 7. They have reached the final 16 of the 64-team NCAA Tournament each of the past three seasons, the last two under current head coach Kevin Hambly.

“I’ve waited three years to make it official so that now it’s finally over, or just beginning, it’s exciting. I can just play volleyball and not have to worry about recruiters coming to watch,” Viliunas said. 

“The coaches are really awesome. They make it more than just volleyball. It’s more about the experience and you become a family. It’s really important that you like the girls and coaches so I think that was a lot of what went into my decision making.”

Duke (17-7, 11-4 in ACC) is coming off a program-best, final-eight appearance the NCAA Tournament for just the second time and first in the 64-team format. Coach Jolene Nagel, in her 13th season, has taken the Blue Devils to the NCAA Tournament the past six seasons in a row.

Williams decided on Duke in March after a lengthy recruiting process. A full-rotation player for LT, the 5-10 Williams joked that she could end up playing just about any position but middle hitter.

“I went on a lot of visits. I talked to a lot of coaches. It took a long time for me to decide, but I’m really happy. I couldn’t think of a better place,” Williams said. 

“I really liked the coaching staff. I think they’re a really good fit for me, my personality. I really liked the team. I could see myself hanging out with them for four years so that was really important for me. And academically I think it’s going to be a good challenge for me.”

Wake Forest (7-18, 4-11 in ACC) has never qualified for the NCAA Tournament but is coming off a single-season best 11 victories in ACC play in 2010. Coach Heather Kahl Holmes, in her seventh season, is former all-state outside hitter at Huntley High School who led her team to second in Class A in 1990.

“They’re really great coaches and I really liked the campus when I visited,” said the 5-6 Miller. 

“The coaches from Wake Forest come to a lot of Illinois (club) tournaments because they have a lot of family out here so they were able to watch me a lot. They’re always willing to travel to Illinois so that was kind of nice, knowing that if we’re out of the road and nearby, they’ll always stop by Chicago.”

Wake Forest and Duke play each other at least twice annually and are with each other additionally as travel partners for the ACC weekend road trips. Wake Forest won this year’s first meeting in Winston-Salem.

“I think it’s going to be really funny at first because we don’t really have the rivalry or anything yet. I’m not really sure how it’s going to go,” Williams said.  

“We’ll be seeing a lot of each other. It’ll be funny,” Miller added. 

At Illinois, Viliunas will be reunited with LT teammate Jocelynn Birks, the all-state standout from the state championship lineup who is a redshirt this season. 

“I think it’ll help a lot with the transition process of becoming a college player because she’s gone though it already, just get used to everything, school, playing and the conditioning,” Viliunas said. 

With several new faces this season, the Lions achieved their eighth straight super-sectional appearance and third straight season with at least 30 victories. 

The rest of the regular starting rotation included senior Anna McJohn, junior Alyssa Keeve, sophomore Catherine King and freshmen Hannah Juley and Toni Saracco. The varsity's only other senior was Kelly Blank, a member of last year’s postseason roster along with Keeve.

LT defeated Marist in last year’s super-sectional and led satuday's rematch 19-13 and 21-18 in the third set before the RedHawks rallied for their first downstate berth in program history. 

“It was just a string of things, but mostly a great part of it was Marist in playing up the ball,” Pyritz said. 

“It would have been great to go downstate again, and then sitting on a six-point lead in the third game I thought that might happen. I’m disappointed that we didn’t get to go downstate, but on the other hand we played a tough match and everybody saw that.” 

LT had overcome a 16-10 deficit in the second set to tie the match. Leading the Lions in the match were Viliunas (13 kills, 18 assists), Williams (7 kills, 5 assists) and Miller (20 digs).

In the sectional, Marist defeated Mother McAuley, which defeated LT twice, and Sandburg, which had split two matches with LT and beaten Marist in their previous two meetings.

“They certainly had to put up some top-level performances in the last few days. Give them a lot of credit. I think that they were hungry to be at state, and that showed in the last seven, eight points of the game," Pyritz said.

“But on the other hand, we played really, really good matches (in the postseason). I think our freshman, in particular, played very well and very mature for their age. I think the seniors did their normal job of performing.” 

Among other career statistics, Williams has 964 kills, 198 assists, 631 perfect passes and 100 blocks, Viliunas has 704 kills, 820 digs, 145 blocks and 147 aces and Miller has 683 perfect passes.

Recording single-season bests this season were Viliunas (320 kills, 300 digs and 54 aces) and Williams (334 kills, 99 assists, 30 blocks and 243 perfect passes).

Football

The Lyons Township football team's fantastic playoff run finally ran out of gas on Saturday, running into the undefeated brick wall of the Loyola Ramblers (12-0) and falling short of achieving LT's first-ever football semifinal berth in a 33-10 defeat.

Loyola's star quarterback Malcom Weaver threw for three touchdowns and ran for another—all in the first half—as the Ramblers ripped open a 33-3 lead before halftime on a breezy evening in Wilmette.

The Lions' (finishing 7-5) defense would stiffen to shut out Weaver and co. in the second half, and the offense would manage a touchdown in the closing minutes, but it was too little, too late for the scrappy program that made a name for itself this year with a number of thrilling last-second wins.

LT kept it close early with a 29-yard Jake Elliott field goal that kept the gap at a narrow three points (and were the first points any team has scored on the Ramblers this playoffs). Loyola quickly answered with a 40-yard touchdown pass and followed by chewing up the LT defense with barrage of TD points.

Lions quarterback Zachary Mahoney threw for 172 yards with a touchdown, with 135 of those yards going to reciever Matthew Harris (seven catches). Mahoney, a junior who won a hotly-contested starting spot as the Lions entered the playoffs, will have another year in 2012 to throw for the LT program.

It was a year of and lopsided losses for the Lions, who won every close game and fell apart in several others. They took five of their seven W's by five points or less, and none by more than 16—but lost by margins of 28, 28, 27, 23 and 23. Despite a 7-5 winning record, they were outscored 243-329.

Still, the playoff momentum is hugely promising for the Lions, who have made it two straight years winning two playoff games and reaching the semifinals (last year going 10-2 ) The only other Lions football teams to reach a semifinals game are from 1978 and 1983.

LT will look to equal—and surpass—that feat in 2012.

Loyola will play on, next facing Glenbard North at home.