Lake Zurich' s Orchard likes kills — and killing cancer

Each spring, Amanda Orchard laces up her most comfortable shoes and heads out for a long walk.

Thousands of people typically join her in what amounts to about a 3-mile trek along the lakeshore in downtown Chicago.

The goal is the same for everyone: to raise awareness and money for the battle against ovarian cancer.

“My grandmother (Rosemarie Piscopo) passed away from ovarian cancer six or seven years ago,” Orchard said. “She was one of my closest friends. She meant a lot to me.

“I've gone to all of the walks since then with my family. I always think about how cool it is to be a part of finding a cure for cancer.”

Walking for a cure is just the tip of the iceberg for Orchard. She actually wants to help find a cure by also studying and researching cancer.

It's why the Lake Zurich senior and volleyball star chose almost a year ago to continue her studies and career at Pittsburgh, which boasts one of the best medical programs in the country.

Her new mantra could be: Crushing cancer by day, crushing volleyballs by night.

Orchard, a four-year varsity starter and spiker extraordinaire, has been so good at crushing volleyballs in high school that she is widely considered one of the best players to ever emerge from Lake County.

She saved her best for last and is now capping off a stellar senior campaign by being named the honorary captain of the Daily Herald's Lake County all-area volleyball team.

“She's got to be up there, especially as an all-around player, as one of the best ever in this area,” said Lake Zurich volleyball coach Matt Aiello, who is in his ninth year at the helm. “She can do every skill on the court, and be a standout in each one. We've joked that if we made her our libero she'd be one of the best liberos in the state. She's one of our top serve receivers and passers, which separates her from a lot of the other top players in the state. She has that willingness to play defense and put a lot of work into it.

“She also can serve aces and is one of our top blockers. And offensively, obviously, she is amazing. She can get a kill from anywhere on the court at any time.”

Orchard leads the Bears with more than 350 kills. She's also racked up more than 200 digs, 40 blocks and 30 aces.

“My expectation for myself this year was to not have any regrets and I feel like I have none,” said the 5-foot-11 Orchard, who started her career as a right-side hitter, moved to the middle as a sophomore and has spent the last two seasons as an outside hitter. “I put out everything I had for the team, physically and as a leader.”

As amazed as Aiello still gets by Orchard's athleticism and skill, he is even more impressed with all the intangibles she brings to the table.

She's a worker, playing club and taking private lessons and dedicating hours in the weight room.

And she's a mentor and a role model, setting a positive tone with her teammates every time she steps on the court.

“As a team this season we had high expectations and about midway through, we started to really struggle,” Aiello said. “I've been so impressed with the leadership and patience Amanda has shown. She is obviously such a gifted player and she's at such a high level. But she never got frustrated with her teammates, never gave up. And she was never out there worrying about her own stats.

“Instead, Amanda stayed level-headed, she helped her teammates, she encouraged them and I think that helped everyone pull through that rough spot. Over the last two weeks, we've been playing some of our very best volleyball as a team, and I think that has a lot to do with the positive tone set by Amanda.”

Volleyball has always brought out the best in Orchard.

She was a dedicated softball and basketball player before she discovered volleyball in sixth grade.

She was quickly hooked, having more fun than she could have ever imagined.

“I was really big into softball and my hope was to play softball in college someday,” said Orchard, a longtime shortstop. “I didn't even know about volleyball until I got to middle school. I tried it and I loved it. Every time I played, I loved it more and more and by my freshman year, I knew I wanted to keep playing volleyball, hopefully in college.”

Orchard kept playing basketball and softball as a freshman and sophomore at Lake Zurich, but decided to give them up last year so that she could concentrate on training for volleyball, playing with her club team and getting recruited.

“I wanted to be able to go in and have extra days to work on volleyball,” said Orchard, whose Sky High club team is coming off of two straight national championships. “I knew volleyball was going to help me get into college most.

“I loved playing basketball and softball, but I made the right choice (to concentrate on volleyball) last year. Otherwise, I would have had too much on my plate.”

Orchard's plate is beginning to look more “light lunch” than “Thanksgiving dinner” these days. With her college choice set and volleyball season winding down, she's considering a return to basketball and softball. For fun.

“Nothing's official but I have been thinking about it a lot. I've missed basketball and softball and it would be great to go back,” Orchard said. “I mean, it is my senior year. And I may never get to play those sports again.

“I might as well give it a shot.”

And when Orchard does that, good things happen.

Watch out, cancer.