York finally knocks off St. Charles East
York finally broke the Saints' spell Thursday. Barely.
The Dukes didn't lead for much of Thursday night's Class 4A Bartlett sectional championship, but they led at the right times. York came from behind in both games, including a 10-1 hole to start the match, to defeat St. Charles East 25-23, 25-23 and win its first sectional since 1993 the only other in school history.
Second-seed York (33-4) was a match away from winning the sectional the past two years only to lose to St. Charles East (27-11) both years. The third time proved to be the charm.
“We had to get the monkey off our back,” York coach Patty Iverson said. “They (St. Charles East) know how to win. They won state two years ago and last year lost to the team that won state. To come back from 10-1 and win that game was just unbelievable. They played us perfectly the first 10 points.”
It obviously doesn't matter how long you are winning, just who is winning when the score gets to 25. St. Charles East led nearly the entire way only to come unglued when both games got into the 20s.
York will play New Trier Saturday in the Schaumburg sectional while the loss snapped St. Charles East's streak of three straight sectional championships.
“That's been the case all year,” Saints coach Jennie Kull said. “That has been the thorn in our side all year.”
With perhaps their toughest server Stephanie Camper starting the match, the Saints jumped to a 3-0 lead on a kill by Meghan Niski and then two free balls sent over by the Dukes that middle Nichole Lambert put away.
Niski stepped to the line next and served six straight points for the 10-1 lead, a stretch that included some rare shaky York passing.
“I don't think I will use that pregame speech again, it didn't work too well,” Iverson said. “They came out gangbusters. They served awesome. They hit clean shots and we had a really hard time defending them. That's a very nice team.”
The Saints were about to make it 11-1 until York's Caroline Rose hustled to save a ball going well out of bounds and managed an off-balance fling of a shot to get the ball back over the net.
“I don't remember how the ball got over there but I just knew that in order to win this game I couldn't let the ball drop,” Rose said. “It was just one of those plays you have to make to change the game. I think it boosted everything up, kind of gave us some energy. We got a few kills, we knew we could do this, we just had to get in a groove and play our game.”
York pulled within 10-5 only to fall behind again by 9, 17-8. Unfortunately for the Saints, holding a lead has been a problem all season. It surfaced in the semifinals Tuesday night when a 23-16 lead against West Chicago barely held up for a 30-28 victory, and it was more of the same Thursday.
“We get a big lead, we get going and then we don't finish,” Kull said. “I was pleased with how our kids started out. I wish they could continue playing with that intensity and drive all the way through the match. But we've done this all season.”
York's comeback stated on a Niski kill attempt that just missed. That began an 11-3 run to tie the game at 20-20 when Katie Gallagher flipped a ball deep to an open area in the Saints back row.
The Dukes took their first lead of the match when their two setters teamed up, Emily Iverson setting Gallagher for a kill.
Down 24-21, the Saints fought off two game points, the second on Sam Szarmach's block. At 24-23 Melissa Deatsch pounded a shot off the Saints block and out of bounds to hand the Saints a demoralizing loss after their blazing start.
“We've struggled with (holding leads) all year and it came back to get us at the end,” Szarmach said. “We had it all along. I don't know what happened. We played our hearts out.”
With all the momentum on York's side, it was the Saints who again came out strong in Game 2 and led almost the entire game. On one of the best points, Saints libero Maisey Mulvey dug a pair of Rose's rocket kill attempts on a point Niski won with a kill.
“They didn't expect us at all, we caught them by surprise,” Szarmach said. “They thought they were going to take it out of our hands and roll over and we'd die but we didn't. I was proud of how we played, I just wish it could have ended on a better note.”
Other than a 1-0 lead, York didn't go in front in Game 2 until 24-23 on a Saints hitting error. A bad serve receive by the Saints on match point gave Deatsch a free ball that the sophomore pounded for an easy kill.
While coach Iverson said York has won every deuce game it played this year except Lyons Township, the Saints didn't have nearly the same success in tight games.
“I tried many things to get past it all year but it bit us tonight,” Kull said. “Once we had the momentum we haven't been the type of team that finishes and when you let it go you start questioning. You can see the players start questioning themselves.
“I don't want to take anything away from York because they are a very good team. They deserved to win tonight.”
Rose led York's balanced attack with 10 kills, 5 digs and 3 aces. Gallagher added 7 kills, 9 assists and 9 digs and Sam Schrenker added 4 kills and 4 blocks.
Szarmach's 9 kills and Niski's 8 led the Saints. Camper set 24 assists and Mulvey had 13 digs.
A fourth straight sectional final between these two isn't that far-fetched both will return most of their lineups. That doesn't make it any easier for Kull to say goodbye to her two seniors Szarmach and Olivia Desormey, a four-year varsity player headed to Seton Hall.
“Their improvements over their careers have been phenomenal,” Kull said. “They have really put a mark at St. Charles East. Those two have led well.”
“Volleyball at East meant a lot to me,” Szarmach said. “It was a huge part of my life. Volleyball is a huge part of my life, it's all I do. and being around such a great group of people, coaches, staff, and these are my best friends out there. They mean the world to me and I'm really going to miss playing with them.”