Girls volleyball: Harris hoping to set WW South to another title-filled season

There have been unconventional schedules and position changes along the way, but one thing seems to remain constant around Darby Harris when she's on a volleyball court - the results are always quite impressive.

The Wheaton Warrenville South senior is about to start her fourth year on varsity for a Tigers program that took second in the state in 2019 and might already have added more hardware since then, if not for a pandemic that wiped out the fall 2020 season and prevented a state tournament this past spring, when Harris and the Tigers were again playing top notch volleyball in the abbreviated season.

When Harris, who recently committed to play her college ball at Rice University, arrived at Wheaton Warrenville South in the fall of 2018, the Tigers program already had a pair of future Division I setters in Sarah Burau and Zayna Meyer on hand.

So, the newcomer stepped right into a starting role as the libero, a position she excelled at for two seasons, including a 33-9 campaign which ended in a 4A state runners-up finish in 2019.

"We definitely were gifted with a lot of talented volleyball players who could have been thrown in any position and make it work," said Harris, a 5-foot-10 setter who took over the setting roles in the spring and will oversee a talented offensive attack this fall. "There were several of us playing out of position, and so having the talent like that was obviously a huge part."

Throughout that season - which ended with the school's best finish ever for girls volleyball - the players spent so much time with each other off the court, that Harris said they became like a second family. That bond played a role in the team's strong play down the stretch to a trophy and with Harris leading the way ever since, the tight knit squad has been tough to beat ever since.

"That was the reason that we were able to perform so well when it really came down to it near the end," she said of the state tournament run that ended in the state finals against eventual champion Benet Academy.

"We knew that everybody else on the court could take care of their job and we were able to just jel better as a team. That really showed especially in our supersectional match and some of those really tight matches on our way to state. Oh my gosh, it was totally surreal. Incredible."

Plenty has happened on the court since that magical 2019 season for the Tigers, just none in the state series. With Harris taking over at setter, for her junior year, the Tigers went 20-5 including 12-2 in the DuKane Conference in the spring of 2021, after COVID prevented a normal fall season. With most of the players back this fall, big things are expected again from Harris and her teammates.

"Darby Harris has been our everything on the defensive side of things as our 2-year starting libero and now she returns as our starting setter for season 2 and in her natural position," WW South coach Bill Schreier said. "She owns the career record for digs at our school and now continues to play her normal position. With her setting experience and being one of the top seniors in the state, she will be the engine that gets us going."

Harris had a nice little tuneup for her final prep season playing for the Sports Performance club this summer. She's been a setter for the club since her junior high days and in June, she led the 18 Club Division to a national championship in Orlando and Harris picked up MVP honors along the way.

"That was my first national championship, so it was just a great experience," she said. "And it was sort of a similar experience when we went to state and just kind of that surreal, like, it was just an incredible, especially because I got to share it with my team. So, it was awesome. It was definitely an exciting, exciting week."

Now that high school volleyball has returned to the fall post-pandemic, the Tigers look primed for another long run in the postseason.

Harris returns with fellow tri-captains libero senior Taylor Olsen and sophomore Rebecca Bellows, a 6-foot outside hitter, along with starting middles Lily Huntzinger and Piper Lindsay and a boatload of other experienced players.

"I'm excited. We have pretty much everybody returning that started last year so I'm super excited to see what everybody can do this year," she said.

WW South opens the new year with a tough test against Marist on Aug. 23, so it's right back to the fire for Harris, who seems to thrive against the toughest competition and situations on the volleyball court.