Resilient Johnson paces Spartans’ attack

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ROCHELLE – Whenever the Sycamore volleyball team hits a bump in the road, Jill Johnson is the player there to stop them from falling too hard.

If a teammate has a bad hit, Johnson jokingly throws out a “Oh, good job”, the team laughs a little and they move on.

That’s what it takes to be a leader. That’s what the junior has taken on as the Spartans’ junior setter.

“I crack jokes sometimes and say weird things out there just to keep people from getting down or negative,” Johnson said.

Sycamore coach Debbie Klock thinks that Johnson’s resilience is one of the reasons the Spartans (32-6) have reached tonight’s 7 p.m. Class 3A Rochelle Sectional final against Freeport.

“She’s the first one to come out and settle them down,” Klock said. “She says ‘this isn’t a big deal.’ Her sister was a lot like that too.”

That sister is Caitlin Johnson, now a sophomore setter at Drake. Two years ago, Caitlin was the Western Sun Conference Player of the Year as the Spartans reached the state FInal Four with Jill on the bench as a freshman.

Jill sat, learned, and waiting for her chance to take over the setting duties as a sophomore.

“From her, I learned to just stay positive and help out your team and be a leader,” Johnson said.

Johnson has helped to lead a team that has eight main players in its rotation, each playing an important role as the Spartans work their way through the playoffs.

Klock said her team came together at the Illinois State team camp – where Johnson solidified her role in this year’s sped-up offense – and the rest of her players continued to get better as well.

“It’s the support staff that makes this team better,” Klock said. “Sarah Verkler and those guys are really good this year. They got confidence over the summer. All of them believe in each other.

“Sometimes when the common bound is hating me, that’s a good thing.”

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