For Brittani Steinberg and the New Trier volleyball team, match preparation starts on the ride to the stadium. And it’s not in the form of quiet time.  

“We have a lot of energy and we use it to our advantage when we play,” said Steinberg, a junior outside hitter. “We always get really pumped up before games; our bus rides are really loud because there’s a lot of singing, dancing, cheering. But I think we control the energy well.”

That certainly was the case on Monday night as the Trevians swept Glenbrook South 25-22, 25-14 to clinch the outright title in the Central Suburban League South.

New Trier started out sloppy in the first game, committing five straight hitting errors at one point to help Glenbrook South take an early 13-10 lead.

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“We tried to clean up our game since the first [game] was really us playing a lot of their points for them,” New Trier coach Hannah Hsieh said.

Using a relatively balanced attack, New Trier’s hitting improved and the Trevians quickly tied the first game at 16-16 on a kill from senior outside hitter Katie Fauntleroy. The Trevians won five consecutive points late in the first game, including three kills from Steinberg, edging the Titans 25-22.

New Trier cruised in game two, never trailing after Glenbrook South took the first point of the game. Sophomore setter Taylor Tashima spread her passes around and the defense picked up.

“I thought we started blocking better and being a little bit scrappier with their tips so that’s good to see,” Hsieh said. “In terms of our whole game, we’ve been really still up-and-down.”

The Trevians won 11 of the last 13 points and senior middle Kathryn Polkoff finished it off with a kill from the right side.

Tashima led New Trier with eight kills while Steinberg chipped in with six kills. Lisa Mahon had three kills for Glenbrook South. 

New Trier finishes up its last conference game against Maine South on Oct. 19 before a weekend tournament at Lyons. The Trevians start the playoffs on Oct. 25 against the winner of Northside and Schurz, looking to defend last year’s sectional championship.

“We just need to continue to push ourselves through less errors,” Steinberg said. “We definitely have had some really clean games in the past and I know we can do that.”

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