On Jan. 8, varsity girls bowling moved to 9-0 on the season with an assertive victory over Glenbrook North.

In game one of the match, the Trevians had the best game of any CSL team so far this season, winning by a pin total of 1059-771. They also dominated games two and three, winning by 1027-831 and 912-720 respectively.

“I was very impressed with our team against GBN,” said head coach DavidHjelmgren.“Iamreallyproud with our collective progress.”

Hjelmgren’s bowlers were also upbeat about how the match went. Sophomore Erika Truong explained that, right now, much of the team is bowling their best ever.

“It’s exciting,” said Truong. “Two or three of us on Varsity have hit our high games [in the past week], so we’re all proud of each other.”

Although the team managed to win the match in three games, the Spartans proved to be a formidable opponent even in defeat.

“GBN has 6 bowlers capable of bowling 150 or better in any game,” said Hjlemgren. “Although we won this match pretty handily, we never take any opponent for granted.”

Maintaining the effort and consistency needed to defeat GBN, especially just after returning from winter break, also proved challenging for the Trevians.

“I hit my high at 207 at the beginning of the week [against Vernon Hills], and then slowly I got tired since we just got back from break and it’s a lot of work to catch up on,” said Truong.

Senior Sara Hughes pointed to the team’s strong chemistry and support for one another as a major reason why they were able to fight through these challenges.

Hughes explained, “Everyone picked each other up when someone was struggling, which I’d consider a great win.”

The Trevians also extended this sense of camaraderie and team spirit to the opposition.

“Bowling is really competitive, but all the teams also support each other,” said Truong. “We share the same cheers with other teams, and we’re all cheering for each other.”

Looking ahead, the future is bright for the Trevians. This victory against GBN was excellent, but there is also significant room for improvement.

If the Trevians become more consistent as the season progresses, they will perform even better. Hjelmgren highlighted the team’s tighter victory margin of 912-720 in the third game as evidence for why they need to gain consistency.

He said, “My one challenge to the team moving forward is to make sure that we finish strong.”

At the moment, the Trevians’ starting lineup consists of one senior and five sophomores. With this in mind, it becomes obvious that the Trevians have enormous potential for improvement.

“We are a Varsity team of mostly sophomores, so I think we’re doing really well being 9-0,” said sophomore Ava Vickery. “For the team overall, I think our main goal is to help the newcomers and help ourselves improve more and more as the season goes on.”

Considering that the Trevians’ average pin totals this season are already much higher than last season, it seems all but certain that they will surpass last year’s 11th place sectional finish.

In the end, how far they go will come down to how hard they want to work and how much they trust each other.

“Any team goals on the lanes that we achieve, like winning the CSL Conference title and making a deep run in the IHSA state tournament start with culture,” said Hjelmgren. “I love this squad, and I can’t wait to see where the remainder of this season takes us.”