After splitting a pair of games Homecoming weekend, one member of the team has the chance to make good on a homecoming of her own in her senior season.
Senior middle blocker Katie Post is from Streamwood, Ill. She will be about an hour from home when the Bobcats travel to DeKalb for a match against Northern Illinois Saturday night.
Post said she is eager to play in front of the hometown crowd for a final.
“I have at least 15 members of my family coming — not including my friends,” Post said. “I’m just glad all my family can come and watch me for my last season.”
Playing in front of family and friends will not rattle a veteran such as Post. Head coach Ryan Theis said that, throughout her career, she has had friends and family meet the team at various opponents’ venues along the way.
“I’m hoping I play terrific,” Post said. “I just got to go with the flow and see what happens.”
At Streamwood High School, she was a two-time team captain and most valuable player. She helped turn a team that won two games in 2004 into a team that won 20 games in back-to-back seasons in 2006 and 2007.
Her time spent at Streamwood garnered recognition from nearby Northern Illinois. Huskies’ head coach Ray Gooden said Post was on his recruiting radar but that he could not get her to commit.
“Sometimes they just want different things,” Gooden said. “Some kids want to stay, some want to go.”
Post echoed the statement saying she just wanted to go out of state and find something new.
Sophomore outside hitter Lauren Wicinski leads the attack for the Huskies. She leads Division I in points (6.58) per set and kills (5.62) per set.
Gooden said Wicinski’s success lies in her efficiency in killing the balls that are set to her.
To combat someone who is that efficient with attacking, a good offensive rhythm is needed.
“You have to minimize the amount of swings that she gets by running a good offense yourself,” Theis said. “The best defense is a good offense.”
nr225008@ohiou.edu
