Quintet of volleyball players boosts Lake Forest roster

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Lake Forest's Annie Keller (left) battles Deerfield's Ali Ranallo for a rebound during the Deerfield Tournament. | Jerry Daliege~For Sun-Times Media

Updated: January 3, 2012 8:11AM

If a volleyball match ever broke out on the basketball court, the Lake Forest High School girls team would be state champs.  

While that won’t happen, five players from Lake Forest’s conference championship volleyball team are bringing athleticism, height and winning intangibles to the basketball squad.

The Scouts, who just completed play in the rugged Deerfield Tournament, have started the season 2-3.

The volleyball/basketball quintet features Mary Striedl (6-foot), Gabby Perino (5-4), Jennifer Kreb (6-0), Anna Schwartz (6-1) and Victoria Moore (6-0). 

“The volleyball girls bring a lot of height,” said senior point guard Allie Danneker. “That’s really helping us. When they came to practice, you could see an improvement right away.” 

Striedl was a varsity starter as a sophomore before focusing exclusively on volleyball last year. She is making an instant impact, particularly on the defensive end, averaging three to four blocks and five steals per game.

“Even when the other team is in good position, she’s athletic enough to get her hand on the ball,” said first-year coach Kyle Wilhelm. “Her blocks, steals and deflections are really helping us defensively.” 

Kreb showed she’s a quick basketball study with her performance in an 11-point loss to Niles West on Saturday. Notre Dame recruit Jewell Loyd still finished with a game-high 23 points, but Kreb made sure she had to work hard for most of her baskets. 

“She was the main person guarding her and she made sure her shots were difficult and contested,” Wilhelm said. “We threw a lot of different looks at her.” 

Added Danneker: “This is her first year playing basketball and she came out with a lot of energy to guard a great player. She has a lot of potential.”

Recap: Slow starts hindered the Scouts in all three of their recent games in the Deerfield Invitational. 

Lake Forest fell to Evanston 40-30 on Nov. 21 and to Zion-Benton 43-34 on Nov. 23. The Scouts closed out the five-game set by falling to Niles West 50-39.  

Evanston controlled play in the early going, and led by 10 points at halftime. The Scouts clawed back in the third quarter and cut the deficit to 31-28. But Evanston limited Lake Forest to two points in the final quarter. 

“A story of a lot of our games is getting down early,” Wilhelm said. “We’ve fought back but we’ve been falling a little short.” 

Annie Keller, a 5-foot-9 sophomore, had a breakout game with eight points and 15 rebounds. Striedl and Danneker had seven and six points, respectively.  

“This was a big turning point for Annie,” Wilhelm said. “This was the game that kind of sparked her.” 

After falling behind Zion-Benton 13-4, the Scouts drew to within 20-15 at halftime. Striedl and Keller scored 10 points and nine, respectively. Though senior Cat Perino didn’t score, she was still all over the court. 

“She’s a really smart player and (contributes) in different ways every game,” Wilhelm said. 

Striedl and Danneker paced Lake Forest against Niles West with 14 and 12 points, respectively. 

“We didn’t shoot well from the free-throw line and we weren’t finishing our layups,” Wilhelm said.

On the schedule: Lake Forest opens North Suburban Conference Lake play at Mundelein at 7 p.m. today. The Scouts visit Highland Park in a non-conference game Saturday. 

“We’re going through some growing pains but we’re learning a lot about our team,” Wilhelm said. “We’re building on the mindset that we can compete with teams and that we’re a good basketball team. We’re seeing what we’re capable of.”