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t Nortons 1-2 at ^ByBaitoAnMU * Herald Newt Service JOHNSBURG -- Sharal Johnson says she's optimistic. And with the type of team she has the pleasure to coach, who could blame her? Johnsburg High's girls' volleyball squad, which began its season Tues­ day against "Wauconda, had its sea­ son ended abruptly last year in the McHenry Regional, losing tp Crystal Lake Central. But with the bulk of that team returning, plus a host of other players to fill out the large* roster, Johnsburg appears solid in '85. "This is the largest amount of girls I've ever had try out for the volleyball team," she said. Why? ' Johnson credits the growing num­ ber of participants to the uniqueness of volleyball as a girls' sport only, the success of last year's team, and the fact that in eight years, the Skyhawk spikers have not had a losing season. Despite the increase in volley­ ball's popularity at JHS, Johnson views the newly-spurred interest with mixed feelings. "I have the most experience com­ ing back to start a season that I've eVer had," Johnson, who has 10 se­ niors back, explained. "But it's hard to pick six starters, and I've already made one season cut, which is some­ thing I've never had to do before." To make matters even more diffi­ cult, Johnson says the girls have Fall Preview "Passing is a definite weakness,"** she lamented. "We need to get the ball to the setters." The loss of Cris May and Deb Tvaroh to graduation leaves the Skyhawks lacking in leadership, as well. » We cant afford to be lazy. The team cannot settle for a 'just get by' attitude. They will need to strive for perfection. I don't expect this team to lose many confer­ ence games. -- Sharal Johnson plenty of skill, but is concerned that isn't enough. "Some girls can hit well, but they can't serve or pass-Others can set, but they can't play through the front row. We're just not well-rounded." Another one of Johnsburg 's strength is its height. Lanky mem­ bers like seniors Vicki DuBeau and Laura Oeffling, and juniors Cindy Swartzloff and Kathy Kirk make the Skyhawks a force up front. But. "I've an excellent group of ju­ niors, like Swartzloff and Kirk," Johnson said. But an injury may sideline Terri Hendershot, whom the Skyhawks badly need as a setter. . "For the most part, the team has a good attitude. They enjoy the game and love to play, but my se­ niors have been a first place team as freshmen and sophomores, and they have come to expect that position. which may cause us to be lax. "We can't afford to be lazy. The team cannot settle for a 'just get by* attitude. They will need to strive for perfection," she stressed. "All the players are good friends, and most realize their own skill. That helps make the^ competition good-1 don't expect this team to lose many conference games. Even most of our fans feel this is Johnsburg's best team ever. "Winning the Zion-Benton Tourna­ ment (Oct. 14), winning the region- als, and being somewhere in the top two in the (Northwest Suburban) confernece are some realistic team goals for us," she said. Johnson said that new coaches at fellow Northwest Suburban Confer­ ence schools Marian Central and Wauconda will play to Johnsburg's advantage. ^ "I see our two toughest conference opponents as Wauconda, who finr ished first last year, and Grant. "We need to keep everyone healthy and a good line of communi­ cation throughout the team to do well," Johnson said. said. "He has placed well during his competitive summer runs. While I'm not sure how that will measure up with conference competition, I think Widhalm's in fair shape." As for Dust, Texidor feels the se­ nior has already become a fine role model for the younger Skyhawks. "Dust, a two-year cross-country veteran, has a tremendous attitude, and has established himselfas the team leader. H6 is an excellent ex­ ample for the younger runners to follow," Texidor complimented. Despite his uncertainty about his team, Texidor knows he has some quality runners. In addition to Dust and Widhalm, senior Brett Bart- koske, junior Mark Clary and sopho­ more Ed Nichols are back. "They're definitely a young bunch, who are low on experience," Texidor said. "What they lack in experience, they will have to make up for with effort and determination. Fall Preview "We do have the potential to do as well as the 1984 team, if not improve on what they did." Texidor said he will be looking for Nichols, who has shown promise in practice, emerge as one of the top JHS runners. The JHS mentor said he is also pleased by the performances of some new recruits. "Tom Valiant, I'll be looking for some consistent running, and fresh­ man Ed Hennlgah has also been an encouraging surprise. He is one of our better runners, and will be a big help." Also back is George Taylor, who was an award-winning junior varsi­ ty runner, but missed last season with an injury. Two female runners, Lisa Nuna- maker and Tammy Policky, have also encouraged Texidor. The best team ever? 1 ; • o , p Senior contingent keys high hopes for Skyhawk spikers Herald photos by Barb Ansell Johnsburg High School's volleyball team has high hopes for the 1965 season. Coach Sharal Johnson welcomed a host of returning letterwinners back to her squad, which finished second in the Northwest Suburban Conference a year ago. MCHS netters whip Antioch in opener By Barb Ansell Herald News Service r JOHNSBURG - 'Tradition' and 'Johnsburg cross-country' weren't often mentioned in the same breath. But Skyhawk coach Bob Texidor feels it's time they went hand-in- hand. Johnsburg, coming off its first winning cross-country season ever, opened its season Wednesday at the Mundelein Invitational. "I'm in an optimistic mood as the season starts," Texidor said. "We have some good young runners," he added, "but we're unproven, too." The Skyhawks will be rebuilding after the losses of standout Mike Lawrence and Jeff Nichols to gradu­ ation. Presently, Texidor is counting on returning letterwinners Mark Widhalm and Bill Dust to lead the way. "Widhalm looks good," Texidor By Herald sports staff ANTIOCH - While McHenry's soccer team was beating up on Anti­ och at West Campus, the Warrior girls' tennis team was doing the same to its counterparts in Antioch Tuesday. McHenry claimed a 3-1 triumph over the Sequoits in both teams' season openers. The fifth match was halted due to darkness. McHenry senior Melissa Rhode got her team off to a good start with a hard-fought 4-6, 7-5, 6-3 win over Nicole Haworth at No. 1 singles. Junior Beth Dimopoulos then fol­ lowed suit at No. 2 with a 3-6,6-3,6-3 win over Beth Dubek. At first doubles, the McHenry se­ nior tandem of Michelle Landis-Me- lanie Smith battered Sue Belli and Dorie Harp, 6-4,6-4. • Junior Katie Prust teamed with senior Sue O'Halleran at No. 2 dou­ bles, suffering McHenry's only loss day, to Julie Sexton-Maria Velas, 6-1,7-5. McHenry's Becky Marsh and Mary Sieverin were teamed up at No. 3 doubles and dropped the first set 7-5, with the second tied at 6-6 when play was stopped. "It's great to get the two singles kids off to a good start," said Mc­ Henry coach Gary Gray . "They both used their heads, found weaknesses and worked on them, all the while correcting their own problems. They both played well. "Rhode winning is the big story, though," Gray continued. "She was injured and missed a lot of last season. It was a hard situation for her. She's really been looking for­ ward to this year, but also has been real apprehensive. After winning, she was floating on cloud nine. And Beth looked good in her first varsity victory." The Antioch pair of Belli andHarp must have been surpr ised Kythe easy manner they were disposed of by Landis and Smith. The Belli-karp unit advanced out of the, McHenry Sectional to the state tournament in 1984. "I'd have to say Antioch's pair, our pair and Woodstock's pair look the ones to beat out of our section­ al," Gray said. "Our second doubles started very nervous, and ^ere very embarrassed by how they played in the first set. But they really came on in the second set. They showed a let of patience. They'll be a formidable team." McHenry will put its 1-0 record on the line Friday at Grayslake, where Rhode will face a stiff test against the Rams' top player, reputed to«be among the area's top players. But this day was to be savored. "Yeah, that's a nice start all right. We'll take it anytime," Gray said. * l Take Herald photo by Sam Natrop Marian Central's Michelle Mar- tino slashed a forehand during the Hurricanes SO loss to Cary- Grove Wednesday. Martino, Marian's No. 2 singles player, suffered an 8-0 loss to Cary's MaryDeVine. What did the Cubs do? Does anyone still care? As I sat in the office the other afternoon, a fellow employee en­ tered the room in a panic. "Do you guys have that little radio sitting around?" he asked in a huff. No, it broke after the White Sox lost to Oakland last month in the 11th inning. See, I got mad, and accidentally shoved the vol­ ume button inside. It got stuck in there, and we tried to... "Well, don't you have any sort of radio around here some- , where?" he said. "I need to find a radio. _ Well, there's Phil's boom box over on the floor, but I don't know... "It'll be alright," he said. "Where's it at?" What's so important that you have to get a radio? We didn't hear anything so earth-shatter­ ing here. What's going on? Is the President having another\opera- tion? Did Madonna and Sean Penn get a divorce? Has the baseball drug scandal spread to include Toronto beer vendors? What? "The Cubs and Astros are tied. The game's going into extra in­ nings," he said, almost angered that everyone didn't know about it. The Cubs? Umm. Excuse me, ut have you checked the stand­ ings lately, for heaven's sake? The Cubs are in fifth place in the NL East. Fifth place. Not first, not second, not even fourth. The radio-seeker just shrugged his shoulders. "The game's in the 10th inning," was his meek explanation. ' He certainly didn't seem to mind what place the Cubs were t Chris Juzwik Herald sports writer in. He certainly didn't seem to care that the Cubs were falling off the bottom half of the base­ bal l world. And wel l he shouldn't. If he's a true Cubs' fan, a true baseball fan, the game is the most important thing! To baseball purists, a team out of the pennant race is the most intriguing team to watch. It's the next best thing to having a seat right behind sec­ ond base. Though sports is my job, I lose interest in them'easily. Watching Sox "games this September pro­ vides enter ta inment only -through checking out the impres­ sive stats of Carlton Fisk, Britt Burns, Tom Seaver and Harold Baines, along with the exciting showings made daily by rookie shortstop Ozzie Guillen. But whether the Cubs and Sox win or lose matters about as much as if the world runs out of asparagus. Frankly, to me, it's meaningless. However, comma, there is al­ ways the future to think about. And the future can be an impor­ tant thing, considering the pasts of our two favorite teams. Get­ ting a glimpse of hopefuls like Shawon Dunston and Derek Bo- telho on the North Side, and Joel Davis and Darryl Boston on the South Side tells us what 1966 holds. r Still, it's boring. I wondered if ( I was alone in looking at Septem ber baseball with a calloused eye. Someone else walked in. "Hey, what'd the Cubs do today?" I think it'.s a conspiracy. Thursday, September 5,1985 JHS runners seek upkeep of tradition "These girls ran last year for fun, and they ran last winter and then in the spring on the track team," Texi­ dor said. "This year , they ' re psyched to do better. They have set their sights on higher goals. It's a struggle to field a girls' team with the other sports and activities we compete against for membership. However, the girls who do come out are dedicated and want to run." Freshmen Jenny Bachme gives Johnsburg a downright large squad of three female members. "The team still needs time to work together in order to blend and mold our identity as we mature. The team must decide to do more than talk about goals," Texidor concluded. "The goals must be accepted by the team and worked on in practice and strived for throughout the season." Carrying out the newly-created Johnsburg cross-country traditon may be one of those goals.