A young area graduate has successfully transitioned from player to coach ...
Youth and experience
Only two years removed from graduating as the 14th leading scorer in the history of St. Xavier University women's basketball, Sidney Lovitsch (Grayslake North High School) is now the Cougars' head coach.
A 2017 high school graduate, Lovitsch served as an assistant to head coach Travis Brewster for the 2022-23 season. In October 2023 she was named interim head coach after Brewster left to take the head spot at Chadron State in Nebraska. In April, Lovitsch was named permanent head coach of the St. Xavier program in Chicago.
Last season Lovitsch lead the Cougars to a 16-12 overall record, 14-6 in the CCAC. The team currently is 3-4.
One of 22 players to surpass 1,000 points at St. Xavier, Lovitsch, a guard, played in a program-record 146 games between 2017-22.
Entering Tuesday's game at Judson College, she ranked eighth in minutes played and 3-point baskets for St. Xavier, 10th in steals, tied for 11th in assists, 13th in blocked shots, and 14th in field goals. In 2022 she was named the Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference defensive player of the year.
Lovitsch's first squad as head coach includes Alyssa Crenshaw (Dundee-Crown), Eleanor Harris (Downers Grove North), and Delaney Panozzo (Grant).
Once were Warriors
Duke University, the No. 1 women's soccer team in the nation, boasts two Naperville women who both attended Waubonsie Valley.
Graduate midfielder Hannah Bebar and junior forward Devin Lynch are making an impact for the top team in the country, 16-2-1 entering Sunday's third-round NCAA Division I match against Michigan State. Duke is seeded No. 1 in the tournament for the first time.
Bebar, a graduate transfer from Harvard after three all-Ivy League seasons and 2022 first-team United Soccer Coaches All-America honors there, has 3 goals with 5 assists in 19 games for the Blue Devils, all starts. Bebar was named to the Atlantic Coast Conference second team.
Lynch has scored 6 goals with 10 assists in 19 games, 15 of them starts. She's blossomed this season after scoring no goals with 2 assists in 2023. Lynch is a two-time ACC Academic Team selection. On Nov. 19 Bebar earned a fourth straight academic all-district honor.
Duke's roster also includes sophomore defender Sam Bodensteiner (Fremd), an academic all-conference pick who has played in 11 games this season.
All-CCIW
The College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin announced its all-conference football teams on Nov. 19.
North Central College coach Brad Spencer (Naperville Central), 10-0 and No. 1 in the nation, was named CCIW coach of the year for the third straight season.
North Central right guard Sam Pryor (Kaneland) earned offensive lineman of the year. The 270-pound senior was a first-team CCIW pick for a third straight season.
North Central's John Sullivan (Lakes) and Wheaton College's Peter Johanik (Wheaton Academy), both juniors, shared defensive player of the year. Sullivan, a tackle, made 12.5 tackles for loss with 5 sacks on a defense that allowed 12 touchdowns in 9 league games. Johanik, an end, led the CCIW with 19.5 tackles for loss and 9 sacks.
North Central freshman running back Donovan McNeal (Warren) was named the CCIW's top first-year offensive player after rushing for 422 yards and 2 touchdowns on 37 carries, 11.2-yards per carry.
Other first-team picks included Augustana running back Mike DiGioia (Schaumburg) and return specialist Breyden Smith (Hersey), North Central receiver Thomas Skokna (Hinsdale Central), and Wheaton cornerback Max Wilson (Wheaton Warrenville South.)