DePaul Prep Rams 72, Jones Eagles 41 to Open the Season

The high school basketball season opened this evening with the DePaul Prep Rams women’s basketball team beating up on the Jones College Prep Eagles 72-41. As games go, it was quick, an hour and twelve minutes. The running clock in fourth quarter helped but the game seemed closer than the final score.

I wasn’t able to give the game full treatment. This was a last minute addition to the schedule. I didn’t keep stats or do any interviews.

Nevertheless, I got a look at this year’s Rams. Coach Sarah Zarymbski has three sectional champions in her four years at the helm of the women’s varsity team, except there was no IHSA playoffs in the COVID year. So three sectional victories in three tries. This group has a lot to live up to. And by the looks of tonight’s game, they seem up to the task.

The two new starters, Miliah Wood and Grace Lee, will fit right in as starters. Returning seniors Charlotte Collins, fresh off a successful volleyball season, London Walker-George and Casey Galloway return and round out the starting line up.

Coach Zarymbski played the whole bench today too and there didn’t seem to be much let down. The Rams played well in all phases but only lead by ten at the half.

The Rams blew the game wide open in the third quarter with defense and scoring in transition. They pushed the lead to thirty points at the start of the fourth quarter causing a running clock in the fourth quarter and speedy conclusion to the first game.

It’s going to be a fun season. With the boys team receiving a pre-season 13th rank in the Sun-Times Super 25 rankings, DePaul Prep students, faculty, parents and supporters should be treated to some high quality basketball in what may or may not be the final year in the Tom Winiecki Gym.

Stay tuned. March will be here before one knows it.

DePaul Prep Falls to St. Ignatius in Sectional

Preview of my story this week in Inside Publications:

The DePaul Prep girls’ varsity volleyball team fell to the St. Ignatius Wolfpack on Monday in the IHSA 3A sectional semifinal at St. Ignatius. A large crowd filled the St. Ignatius Gentile Gymnasium for the match. This high-level volleyball was action packed. The teams were never separated by more than five points in either match. The Wolfpack were just that little bit better at defending the attacks by the Rams. Ignatius topped the Rams in two sets, 25-20 and 25-22.

The Rams and their fourth-year head coach Caroline Gajzler came into the sectional fresh off their first regional since Gajzler took over the program four years ago. Gajzler, an assistant athletic director at DePaul Prep and former physical education teacher, was gracious, if not clearly disappointed after the game.

“Kudos to St. Ignatius. They played a hell of a game. They are very scrappy, in terms of defense. [St. Ignatius sophomore Skyler Greene] #10 on the right side gave us issues the entire match. Congratulations to them. On our side, we broke down in our serve and passing games. In the first set, we missed four serves and we were not passing like in our typical game,” Gajzler said.

“We started off the season inconsistent in our match play. We were having difficulty finding the court offensively. Throughout the season our attackers found consistency. Our back row found consistency. With that our confidence grew. We found a good line up that was meshing well together. And then we won some big matches. That really gave us the confidence boost,” Gajzler continued.

Rams’ “libero’ senior Charlotte Collins was a leader on the Rams squad.

“This was our best season yet. We finally clicked as a team. Everyone really wanted it this year,” Collins said after the game. Collins noted the improvement of the Rams squad from last year.

“We really found our rhythm. We learned how to play with each other and connect. Our setters connected with our hitters better. And just effort. We stepped up the game. We wanted to go farther this year and we did,” Collins said.

“Having a bond with everyone and being able to trust your teammates is just so important. If you don’t have that, everyone can be amazing on the team, but if there is no trust and support, then you can’t do anything,” Collins continued.

It was a successful season for the Rams; a 29-9 record with a thirteen-match win streak going it the St. Ignatius sectional match. With the dramatic increase in enrollment at DePaul Prep, the Rams moved up from 2A to 3A in the IHSA four level volleyball classification system. This actually helped the Rams advance through the regional finals. They did not have to face powerhouse teams like IC Catholic and Timothy Christian that defeated them in recent years.

Last weeks’ regional championship over North Grand at Prosser was a milestone for Gajzler with her first regional championship. Last year Gajzler’s Rams suffered an emotional close loss to powerhouse IC Catholic in the regional championship at DePaul. Before that was the lost COVID year with no playoffs. Before that was another close lose to powerhouse Timothy Christian in a regional final.

St. Ignatius went on to advance to the State Finals in Bloomington this coming weekend with wins in the sectional final over DeLaSalle and St. Lawrence in the Super-sectional, both teams that DePaul Prep beat in the regular season.

DePaul Prep Volleyball Handles Latin 2-0 on Senior Night

The DePaul Prep volleyball team handled Latin in two sets at Thursday’s Senior night at DePaul Prep.

A huge crowd packed the Tom Winiecki Gym where seniors Charlotte Collins, Maeve Hudson, Haley Pitcock, Maggie Edmonds and Jessica Meier were honored and escorted into the gym by their parents before the match.

The seniors all started the game jumping out to an early lead on the Latin Romans never to look back. The Rams lead the Romans in both sets.

The Rams move on to this weekend’s Lake Forest Invitation and come home next Tuesday for a big match against GCAC rival DeLaSalle. DeSalle has the number one seed in the St. Ignatius sectional in the upcoming IHSA 3A volleyball playoffs.