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Record Newspapers Athlete of the Week: Yorkville's Ryleigh Springborn · Kendall County News - Shaw Local

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Record Newspaper's Athlete of the Week, Yorkville's Riley Springbourne. Written by
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Skylar Cassellus This article is being read by an automated voice brought
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to you by Everlit. NAME Riley Springbourne School, Yorkville Sport, Girls Volleyball
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Year, Senior. Why she was selected: Springbourne was an X Factor for
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Yorkville last weekend, racking up 28 kills, 25 digs, and 4 aces
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as the Foxes went 4-1 in Saturday's St. Charles East tournament. She
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also had four kills, 3 digs, and 2 aces in a sweep
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of Plainfield South on October 8. Riley has really made giant strides
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in the offseason, Yorkville coach Ryan Donado said. She came back her
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senior year as a really refined player and made great improvements offensively
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and in serve receive. She earned her spot on the outside, and
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our team has benefited greatly from Here growth. Springborn’s was selected as
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the Athlete of the Week in an online vote. Other nominees were
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Oswego football's Drew Kleinhans, Yorkville Football's Joel Castillo, and Oswego East Flag
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football's Aviya Kittling Turner. Here is Springbourne's QA with sports reporter Skylar
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Kastellas. When and how did you get into playing volleyball Springborn. I
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started playing volleyball. In fifth grade when my older brother decided he
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wanted to play too, and I had tried so many sports before
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that, but I just decided to give volleyball a chance because I
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grew up around volleyball. Both of my parents played in high school
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and even now they still play and just so many of my
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other family members also played so I feel like it was a
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calling for me to start playing as well. What do you feel
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made you so successful in that St. Charles East Tournament? Springborn. Honestly,
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I feel like just the support from my team and my coaches
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and my parents really helped me believe in myself, and just the
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drive to win and be the best that I could be in
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that moment also really helped my success. Your team currently ranks among
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the best in the Southwest Prairie Conference. What's been working for you
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all this year? Springbourne, I think our chemistry and the way we
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support each other has been incredibly important. We've been able to build
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off each other's strengths, we've been able to communicate on the court
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and just push each other to be better. And I think when
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we're playing together and trusting each other, that's when we're at our
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best. After winning four straight matches, how do you and your teammates
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keep that success from getting to your heads? Springborn, we just have
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to remind ourselves that every game is a new game. Like no
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matter what happened in the last match, just because we won the
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last few matches doesn't mean the next one's gonna be easy. So
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we just try to stay focused on what we need to improve
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and take each match seriously instead of getting too comfortable. What would
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you consider to be the strongest aspect of your game. Springborn. I
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think I would say my determination And willingness to keep going and
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try to do everything that I can to win, even when things
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aren't going my way, because I feel like volleyball is a game
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where you're gonna make mistakes, but you can't just let one mistake
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affect the rest of your game. But that is something that I
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struggle with sometimes too. And even then I still try and move
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on and stay focused and do whatever I can to help my
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team. Who would you say has been your biggest role model, on
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or off the court? Springborn. I would say my parents, because they
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both grew up playing volleyball, and my dad coached volleyball, so they've
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always understood them sport and what it takes. They've just been a
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huge part of my volleyball journey, and they've helped shape the way
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I approach the game. They've told me so much about working hard
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and staying committed to something, no matter what. The hallways show their
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support to me after a game, and I just can't even remember
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the last time either one of them wasn't at one of my
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games. What's been your favorite match of your volleyball career? Springborn. I
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feel like when we played Oswego, that was a really fun match
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to play. Because we always talk about beating Oswego every year. Anytime
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we would see each other in they hallways at school we would
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always just be like, Oh down, let's go. We're going to win
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the game. And we just hype it up so much. And it's
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just so satisfying to see it pay off. Who would you say
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is your funniest teammate and why? Springbourne, I feel like for me
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it’s a tie between either my friend Morgan Perdue or Megan Suggs,
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because they're always making everyone laugh, even if we're supposed to be
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serious or something. And they both know how to lighten the mood
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and make practices and games more fun. How do you kill time
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while traveling for a match? So springbourne, usually I have my AirPods
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in, I'm listening to music or I'm talking to my friends or
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just taking a quick nap, because after a long day of school,
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it's nice to just rest for a little bit before playing. What
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are your plans for after high school? Do you plan to continue
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playing volleyball? Springbourne. After volleyball, I plan to go to college and
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pursue a career in the medical field. I've been looking into a
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few different paths because I know I want to do something where
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I can help people. But as far as volleyball goes, it was
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honestly a very difficult decision to make. But I have decided that
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this is my last season of volleyball, so I'm really just trying
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to enjoy every moment and make the most of it.