McHenry Times

With another conference title under its belt, the McHenry County College volleyball team heads into the postseason looking for a repeat performance.

The Scots, who recently earned a second-straight Illinois Skyway Conference crown, will soon head into the Region IV tournament to defend their title there as well, and Head Coach Kyle McCall told the McHenry Times that he didn't think his squad had hit its peak as the regular season entered its twilight.

“We've got enough time where between now and the regional, we can hopefully make some significant improvements on an already-pretty-good foundation,” McCall said. “So I think if we can do that, I think we'll be heading back to the national tournament again, which is one of our team goals.”

The regional tournament was expected to start near the end of October. As of Oct. 20, the Scots had a 25-12 record and were ranked No. 13 in the National Junior College Athletic Association Division II poll, according to njcaa.org.

Last season, MCC went 39-9 behind a strong offense. The 2015 Scots were seventh in points, 10th in assists and 13th in kills, as well as third in aces. This season, through Oct. 20, MCC was fourth in assists, 11th in kills, 15th in points and 48th in aces.

McCall said offensive balance and ball handling are strengths in this year's team.

“We've got several players that can do great things with the ball,” McCall said. “We've got some players in certain positions where they're always kind of earning their position, and so I think that helps a lot. But at the end of the day, I think that having a little bit more of a balanced offensive objective and really just handling the ball a little bit better than years past has really helped us.”

Through Oct. 20, according to njcaa.org, MCC's Kayli Trausch was second in kills and 20th in kills per set; Summer Rhea was 34th and 37th, respectively; and Kyla Fitzsimmons was 26th and 89th. Setter Payton Traff was in the top 10 in two categories: third in assists and ninth in assists per set.

Another area in which MCC went up in the rankings was solo blocks. Last season, the Scots were ninth in that category, but this season, they were third.

“Being physically bigger has helped with our blocking,” McCall said.

The Scots played a schedule that prepared them for the conference and was a good test for them, McCall said.

“The season, it's been a challenging one, to say the least,” McCall said. “We've played some of the best competition the country has to offer between our tournament schedules and our conference schedule.”

As far as what the team needs to work on to get ready for the regional, McCall said “a little bit of everything.”

“We're going to stay focused on our ball control and make sure that we can be stable in that area of play,” McCall said. “I think we're going to continue to develop the offense and our blocking.”