St. Francis retains familiar spot

Starting this year, the Early Bird Girls Volleyball Invite was renamed the Peggy Scholten Volleyball Classic.

But there was no change in the name of the winning team from a year ago or many years in the past.

St. Francis rallied from a first-game setback to defeat St. Charles East 20-25, 25-12 25-22 in the championship match of the 16-team event.

Scholten, the hall of fame Conant coach who recently retired after 37 years, was on hand to congratulate both teams after the match.

"This tournament always shows us what we need to work on," said Spartans senior middle blocker Mary Boken, who won her fourth straight crown in Palatine. "Looking at the last match, our blocking and serve-receive need some fine tuning."

The Clemson-bound Boken put down 9 kills against the Saints, and Nebraska recruit Molly Haggerty had a match-high 16. Haggerty finished the tourney with 42 kills, 19 digs and 22 service points. Sophomore Kamryn Mallory added 23 kills.

They were getting their cues from junior setter Daniele Messa.

After falling in Game 1, the Spartans (7-0) only gave up 12 points in Game 2 before putting away a closer third game.

The Saints (8-1) pulled to within 23-21 on a kill by 5-foot-11 sophomore Kyla Augustine.

Boken followed with a crosscourt blast to make it 24-21 before the Saints got back to within a point on a kill by 5-7 senior outside hitter Meagan Smith.

Haggerty ended it with a powerful attack down the left line to give St. Francis another title.

"It feels good, a satisfying way to start every season," Boken added. "(The Saints) put up a really good fight. They definitely have good payers in the middle and a good libero. But we fought through it."

Libero Lisa Mordell, a Tulane recruit, helped fight off the Saints' hitters with a match-high 23 digs. Spartans coach Peg Kopec liked the fight out of senior right-side Sarah Muisenga, who put down 17 kills in the Spartans' five wins, which included a 25-23, 25-22 triumph over Lake Zurich (3-5) in the semifinals.

"Sarah is one of the smartest hitters we've had," Kopec said. "She uses all her tools.

"This tournament is great timing for us. It's good competition for us early and shows us quickly what we must work on."

Sophomore setter Morgan Kull handed out 11 assists for St. Charles East. Among her top targets were Megan Schildmeyer and Mikaela Mosquera. Teammate Emily Schildmeyer chipped in 2 blocks while Caroline Mckeighan had an ace.

"(The Spartans) definitely have some big hitters," Smith said. "Our defense just couldn't quite keep up with them, but we'll learn from it get better. They showed us our weaknesses. We'll go back and work on those things."

St. Charles East defeated Glenbard East 25-13, 16-25, 25-14 in the semifinals.

"We started to make adjustments (in the championship late) but it was a little too late," said Saints coach Jennie Kull. "We have some young kids and that's something we are just starting to learn."

Glenbard East defeated Lake Zurich 25-21, 25-33 for third place.