The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Riverside eyes new heights
Senior core leads Beavers, who have won district five of the past six seasons
Riverside’s reign of dominance at the Division I Euclid District is undeniable. The Beavers are champions there in five of the past six years.
Each season, though, Riverside’s season ended in its next match. Entering the fall, the Beavers eye more success at the regional level.
The 2020 season is one the program’s anticipated, as Jen Sivak, Maddie Herman, Kate Tracz and Avery Tracz begin their senior seasons motivated to leave their stamp on the program.
“We want to take it that step further,” Sivak said. “We want to stop cutting it off at district. This year, we’re really trying this year to really push and know we can go further than we have before. We want it this year, we want it more than ever.”
Sivak, a 6-foot middle, is one of the top players in Ohio. She committed to Bucknell after a junior season in which she averaged 3.1 kills per set.
Coach Ali Vires’ front row is fortified by the Tracz twins, who have been key members of the Beavers’ rotation since their sophomore seasons. Each measuring 6-feet tall, Kate Tracz averaged 2.4 kills and Avery Tracz put down 2 kills per set as juniors.
The offense is run by Maddie Herman, the area’s leading returning passer after she handed out 9.2 assists per set last year. A starter since her freshman year,
Herman’s bond with her teammates in the Class of 2021 elevates their play on the court.
“I think because I’ve been with them so long we have such a great connection,” Herman said. “We know how to communicate with each other. We always are correcting each other or telling what we need. We have great communication and we never take it offensively, we all want to get better and we all want to win.”
Senior Brooke Schiele and juniors Caroline Shantery and Jordan Klimkowski will also factor into the Beavers’ hitting. Middle Cassie Jordan and right side Olivia Bell graduated from last year’s team, leaving opportunities for new contributors.
Riverside’s key to sustaining its success lies within its back row this year, following the graduation of libero Taylor Reigle as well as defensive specialists Lauren Bush and Lauren Hunt. Megan Yanchar will assume responsibilities at libero while Brooklyn Bohr, a Lake Catholic transfer is also expected to contribute in the back row.
“They’re really going to have to work on their defense,” Vires said. “We have 6-foot people in the front row, we have the ability to put the ball away, we’ve had the same setter on varsity for four years but we’ve got to be able to put the ball up. It doesn’t matter what your front row looks like if we’re not playing strong defense so blocking, digging, all of that we’ve got to put that all together.”
How far Riverside’s season progresses may be out of the Beavers’ control, due to the novel coronavirus pandemic. The team already had a match against Mayfield, scheduled for Sept. 1, canceled due to members of the Wildcats’ program testing positive for COVID-19.
Teams across Ohio don’t know which match could be their last in 2020. If the season is able to continue into the state tournament, Sivak and her classmates hope to expend every last effort.
“I just want to know that wherever we go out, we left it all out there,” Sivak said. “We went as far as we could and I don’t want to look back and regret something. As long as we can do that, hard work all the time, that’s how I want to go out.”
“We have 6-foot people in the front row, we have the ability to put the ball away, we’ve had the same setter on varsity for four years but we’ve got to be able to put the ball up.” — Riverside coach Ali Vires