Dawn Shepherd finally gets to play more than a host at this weekend’s boys volleyball state tournament.
After eight years of helping organize and supervise the eight-team title round, the Hoffman Estates coach finally has a team in the finals.
“It’s been kind of a whirlwind, and everyone’s pretty excited,” said Shepherd, whose Hawks (30-8) meet Lyons Township (30-9) in Friday’s quarterfinals.
Although she has delegated normal tournament duties so she can concentrate on volleyball, there are plenty of details she’s concerned about.
“Everybody keeps telling me, `Don’t worry about it–it’ll all happen,'” she said.
The Hawks have won 11 straight matches since early May, including three-game sectional victories over then-No. 1 teams Hersey and Glenbrook South.
“We had a 13-game winning streak in the middle of the season, then went 1-4 in the Prospect tournament,” Shepherd said.
“Then we went on another winning streak, and we could feel a little momentum going with us. And then we just really stepped up in the playoffs.”
Hoffman Estates boasts three players with 200 or more kills: senior middle Adam Plach (289), junior outside Scott Lanctot (249) and senior outside Kevin Hartleben (214). Setters Greg Noonkester and Spero Mandakas have combined for more than 1,000 assists.
Other than the Hawks, this weekend’s other qualifiers all have been to previous state quarterfinals. Evanston has four appearances, including a third-place finish in 2000.
Marist, St. Rita and Lyons are on hand for the third time, while West Chicago, Naperville Central and Lake Forest each will make its second showing.
Lake Forest has gone the longest between trips, having last qualified in 1992. Naperville,meanwhile, won the state title in 1998, its only previous appearance.
