Copyright Chicago Tribune
Naperville North senior Jessica Dickow proved to be the ideal captain for an inexperienced team this season. The 6-foot middle blocker led with her actions rather than her words. That quickly became apparent to first-year Naperville North coach Nate Bornancin. “She’s an incredible captain,” Bornancin said. “When I get to the gym, she’s already there setting up. “She’s not going to be that rah-rah player. She takes everything she does seriously and wants to be the best she can be, and I think it inspires a lot of players around her.” Naperville North junior setter Grace Anderson is one of them. “She’s honestly just one of the most positive people on the court,” Anderson said. “Any time she’s in, she’s so confident. “I know I can trust her to get any ball. I set her even if it’s not the best ball or it’s tight. I know she can make something with it and score a point.” Dickow scored quite a few points during the Class 4A St. Charles East Regional championship match on Thursday. She recorded five kills and a match-high three blocks as the fifth-seeded Huskies came within two points of taking fourth-seeded Wheaton St. Francis to a third set before losing 25-19, 26-24. It was an inspired performance by Naperville North (22-15), which played without its leading hitter, junior Joelle Pye-Blacknard. Freshman outside hitter Mina Cairns had five kills, junior outside hitter Emma Chang and senior middle hitter Cate Provenzano each added four kills, and Anderson dished 16 assists. It wasn’t quite enough to beat the Spartans (25-12). That left Dickow a little choked up as she talked about her performance. “Just knowing that it was my last high school game ever definitely made me want to push a lot harder than normal,” she said. “I’m just really proud. “I’m obviously sad it’s over, but I’m really happy that I got to end my career with these girls. It was just an amazing team and a lot of memories.” Those memories include a spirited performance in the second set, when the Huskies scored four straight points to take an 18-17 lead. The Spartans went back in front 22-19 before Chang and Dickow landed kills and sophomore outside hitter Jocelyn Jamrosz had a block to tie it at 23-23. Jamrosz erased a match point with a kill to tie it again at 24-24, but St. Francis answered with kills to end it. “Momentum is one of the biggest parts of volleyball, and once she got those three blocks in a row, that made us so excited because to block somebody, that’s like the point is over,” Anderson said of Dickow. “There’s nothing the other side can do. So as soon as we got those blocks, it was like, ‘We are on. We’ve got this.’” The Huskies didn’t get the win this time, but they did get a great role model in Dickow. “She’s an amazing kid,” Bornancin said. “She’s just going to show up, do her job, support her teammates and take care of the little things outside of volleyball. “She doesn’t shy away from being challenged, and like all our captains, they just want to fight and compete and want to be challenged.” Dickow, who shared captain responsibilities with senior liberos Ennette Bednarz and Elle Smith, wanted to set a good example. “I like to follow all the rules and make sure everyone else is doing the same, encouraging people to do it,” Dickow said. “I make sure I’m a good leader because I don’t want to be able to say something and not do it myself.” Anderson said that attitude rubbed off on the younger players. “Her actions show that she’s a captain,” Anderson said. “She’s always the hardest-working one at practice, and she’s always calling for the ball. “She’s telling people that could be captains next year that you can do it, you’ve just got to practice so hard.” Dickow, an honors student, will not play college volleyball. But her work ethic will come in handy as she plans to pursue a career in nursing, and she will have fond memories of her high school career. “It was amazing,” Dickow said. “Having an opportunity to be on JV two years in a row was really fun, but then being on varsity for my last two years was a whole different environment. “Being able to put in a lot of work and see the outcome of it was really great.” Matt Le Cren is a freelance reporter.
