St. Charles North sweeps Wheaton North
One more win and you’ll see the entire St. Charles North boys volleyball team sporting mohawks.
That’s because the top-seeded North Stars made a deal to do just that if they won the first sectional title in program history, and they’ll get that chance after defeating No. 4 seed Wheaton North 27-25, 25-20 in the Bartlett sectional semifinal on Friday night.
“The guys want mohawks,” said North Stars’ coach Todd Weimer, who added he’ll get the mohawk if his team wins a state title.
One of the keys to the North Stars’ (29-6) victory was getting past the Falcons’ blockers. A team effort did that as Kevin Beach laid down 8 kills, John Orech 7 and both Jake Hamilton and Jack Harbaugh 4.
“Trying to get through their block was important,” Weimer said. “I thought we did a nice job reading their block.”
After an Orech block kill ended the tight Game 1, Wheaton North started Game 2 on a 4-0 run. The North Stars rallied back, and back-to-back aces by Orech tied the game at 5-5.
“We’ve never made it so far, and this feels good,” said Orech, who added 10 digs in the effort. “We knew they were a good team. At the start of the match, we were a little rusty but we just pushed through.”
After a couple lead changes and three ties, an Orech kill followed by a Beach ace gave North an 11-10 lead, and the North Stars never trailed again. Wheaton North pulled even at 17-17, but a pair of Beach kills and a Falcons’ error helped the North Stars take the lead for good at 21-18.
An Orech kill and three Wheaton North errors provided the North Stars final points. Ryan Dal Degan had 13 digs and Pat Misiewicz 24 assists.
St. Charles North advances to Tuesday’s sectional championship match, and the North Stars will face No. 2 Lake Park who beat No. 12 seed St. Charles East 25-15, 25-17 in Friday’s second semifinal match.
The North Stars fell 19-25, 25-16, 25-13 at Lake Park earlier in the season.
“I’m ready for a rematch,” Weimer said. “They beat us on their home court, but we know what to expect.”