It was a disappointing end to the season for the North Star Wolves senior girls volleyball team.
The Wolves entered the 2024-25 WECSSAA Tier 1 season with the majority of the team new to senior girls volleyball, but progressed throughout the season and ended the regular season with a 6-4 record.
However, a stress fracture in the right ankle of star player Lauren Essenpreis while she was playing with her club team derailed the Wolves in their playoff hopes.
With Essenpreis on the sidelines Feb. 10 when the Leamington Lions came to town for the WECSSAA “AA” quarterfinals, the Wolves lost 25-12, 25-12 and 25-23 and bowed out of the playoffs.
“It’s tough to say the least,” said Wolves head coach Jeff Miller. “It’s just a disappointing way to end the year. Everything built all year around the abilities of Lauren and the developing the other players around her.”
Miller described Essenpreis’ stress fracture as “a freak injury” where she was simply moving back and forth and jammed her ankle.
While the senior Wolves were eliminated earlier than they have been in the past, Miller said he and assistant coach Mary Ewer were still happy with how the younger players progressed over the course of this past volleyball season.
“We had a great year,” he said. “We had a winning record in Tier 1”
With Essenpreis in the lineup, he believed the Wolves could have had a good chance of beating Leamington then made lives difficult for the semi-final opponent.
Four of the senior Wolves, including Essenpreis, will be lost to graduation with Essenpreis heading to Wayne State University on a volleyball scholarship.
The junior Wolves were also eliminated last Monday, as they dropped their quarterfinal match at Erie Migration 25-19, 25-11 and 25-9.
The juniors have had trouble winning games in recent years, but gained some traction this year and won two of their ten regular season games.
They swept Leamington 25-18, 27-25 and 25-15 in the WECSSAA “AA” preliminary round playoff match Feb. 4 before losing to the Coyotes in Kingsville Feb. 10.
Volleyball season over at North Star High School
By Ron Giofu
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