Sandburg outside hitter Lucie Chicvara didn’t get to serve much during her senior season. She didn’t get to play six rotations either.
She didn’t complain, but she wasn’t happy about it.
“Yeah, it made me really mad,” Chicvara said, smiling. “When I am on the bench, I literally itch to be on the court. You will find me crawling out to the court because I just want to be out there playing every moment.
“And serving is one of my favorite things to do, so it bugged me so much. All I did at practice was work on hitting my zones better and being more aggressive.”
Chicvara was the best server on the court Wednesday for the Eagles in a thrilling 25-19, 13-25, 25-21 SouthWest Suburban Conference victory over host Stagg in Palos Hills.
Offensively, Bella Maras led Sandburg (13-15, 3-4) with six kills. Lizzie Boertlein had five kills and 15 assists, while Chicvara contributed four kills and eight digs and Morgan Begley made 10 digs.
Katy Zumerchik tallied 13 kills and six digs for Stagg (9-17, 1-5). Amelia Kadamus added five kills, while Ella DeBow landed five aces and Karolina Stonkus chipped in with five digs.
Chicvara’s most valuable contributions came through her serving with 16 points and three aces.
The Eagles were clinging to a 20-18 lead in the first game when she produced four straight points. Even more dramatically, she served nine straight points during the third game to help Sandburg rally from a 17-10 deficit to a 19-17 lead.
“I was kind of like, ‘What’s the worst that can happen, we could lose by more points?’” Chicvara said. “I just figured I may as well fight, may as well put out as much effort as I could into it.
“I didn’t do it alone. Bella put a bunch of balls down. Everyone else was doing their part. The bench was cheering us on. I know I served it, but everybody was behind me doing the same thing.”
Indeed, Chicvara chalked up two aces during the run, but Maras contributed four kills. Confidence rubbed off in all directions.
“I had a lot of confidence in Lucie,” Maras said. “She’s been a really consistent player throughout the whole season. We put our confidence in her to serve and we finished it out with her.”
It has been a season to remember for Chicvara after a season that wasn’t so memorable.
In 2023, Sandburg was 11 deep in seniors. They took all of the starting spots. Chicvara, who was a six-rotation player in her time on the freshman and sophomore teams, had to deal with sitting.
“During the course of that season, I just cheered my teammates on as much as I could,” Chicvara said. “I knew they deserved to be out there and I knew I could learn from what I saw them doing.
“I wanted to bring their leadership here to this team this season.”
This summer, Sandburg coach David Vales found himself with no returning players who had been there, done that.
“That’s rare,” Vales said. “Normally, you have a senior coming back who did have a lot of time or a position or was able to contribute quite a bit. Lucie got some time last year, but mostly she had to sit and learn from the leaders we had.
“Lucie clearly watched what they did. And when it was time for her to step up in the summer, she wasn’t afraid to speak her mind and help the team come together.”
Chicvara played mostly front row until Vales gave her a chance to serve and play six rotations starting with the ASICS Challenge. She rewarded his faith in a huge way.
Over the past nine matches, Chicvara has a team-leading 13 aces. For the season, she also has 114 kills and 100 digs. Most of all, she has gained her teammates’ respect.
“Lucie kind of stepped up in the beginning of the season,” Maras said. “She has gone from there, to keeping us hyped, with good energy. She constantly reminds us of things a leader should.
“It’s really nice having her.”
Tony Baranek is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.
