Neuqua notches 1st win over St. Charles E.
The 10 seniors on Neuqua Valley’s roster have made life easier for coach Kelly Simon so far this year, and on Thursday they also made a little history in St. Charles.
With a 25-19, 25-21 victory over the Saints, Neuqua Valley improved to 2-0 on the young season while defeating the Saints for the first time.
“It’s huge. huge win for us,” said Taylor McKeown, one of those seniors who led both teams with 8 kills. “I think we wanted it a lot more and we showed that. We played together and brought the energy.”
While St. Charles East (0-2) has eight new players from its 2011 team that finished third in the state, Neuqua Valley (2-0) lost three of its big hitters now playing college volleyball but still has plenty of veterans.
“Everybody looks at us at having a rebuilding year,” Simon said. “This group has been so cohesive. Our senior leadership is really showing through. They are doing a lot on their own.”
The Wildcats took the lead for good in the first game at 8-7 on a Brenna Dunckel kill. They extended the lead to 17-11 when McKeown put a shot away, and Neuqua Valley closed out Game 1 on the sixth St. Charles East service error.
St. Charles East jumped on the Wildcats early in Game 2, taking a 6-2 lead on consecutive aces from senior setter Erienne Barry on her 18th birthday. The Saints still led 14-8 on one of Nicole Woods’ 7 kills.
“We started off that second game and I was really pleased with what I saw for the first 10 points,” Saints coach Jennie Kull said. “I was excited about that. The youth of it then kind of gets caught up in the moment and we shut down again. It’s part of learning.”
Brooke Antenen was especially clutch down the stretch for the Wildcats, blasting a ball down the line for their first 2-point lead at 23-21, then stuffing Saints at the net on the next point to make it 24-21. Kacie Florek ended the match with an ace.
“Just trying to pull the team together and push hard to the finish,” said Antenen who had a strong all-around game with 7 kills, 3 blocks, 7 assists and 5 digs. “I like carrying the team.”
Other leaders for the Wildcats included Dunckel (3 kills, 4 blocks), Hugdahl 10 (digs) and Florek (7 assists).
“We have great respect for Jennie and her team and their legacy they leave here year after year so the girls really wanted to come in here where they have such great fans, this was an opportunity for the first time to win,” Simon said.
Caitlyn Ballard and Carly Jimenez both added 4 kills for the Saints while Barry had 13 assists.
“They are inexperienced,” Kull said. “I feel it was a step in the right direction in this journey. We served better today, we blocked better today (than Tuesday’s loss to Benet). I was pleased with the improvements we saw.”