St. Charles East rebounds at Batavia
St. Charles East didn't get the start it wanted Wednesday night at Batavia, but the Saints made up for it with their finish.
After a scrappy Batavia squad kept one ball alive after another while battling for a 25-19 surprise win in Game 1, the Saints started passing better which enabled them to run their middles more effectively and win the final two games, 25-17, 25-11.
St. Charles East (14-3, 3-0) stayed perfect in the Upstate Eight Conference River Division while handing Batavia (5-11, 3-1) its first conference loss.
"We were mad about the first game so we knew we had to step it up and play our game and pick up our play," Saints senior middle Mikaela Mosquera said. "It's all of us. We tell each other we need to step it up. We know we can play better than that. We just mentally and physically said, 'Let's go.'"
Batavia scrambled to win several long rallies in the first game. The Bulldogs also capitalized on 7 Saints hitting errors while Batavia was efficient in its attack with 10 kills and just one error.
Jancy Lundberg and Alissa Danosky combined for 7 of those Batavia kills. The Bulldogs took the lead for good 12-11 during Maddie Jaudon's 4-point service run. Marielle Eustace followed with 3 more points as Batavia stretched its lead to 18-13. Sam Bradle set Danosky for a kill that took Batavia to game point at 24-18.
"Batavia came out strong, give the credit to them," Saints coach Jennie Kull said. "Our kids, we didn't pass well. The second game was a little better, the third game we started to get back in the rhythm again."
Bradle served an ace to start Game 2 which turned out to be Batavia's last lead of the night. Megan Schildmeyer started dominating on the outside, putting away 5 kills in the game which the Saints led comfortably throughout.
Schildmeyer played another outstanding all-around match with 4 aces, 8 kills, 2 blocks, 7 digs and 21 assists.
"We dialed in at the right time," Kull said. "The one thing this team has that we haven't had in a long time is they all work well together. They are all positive. There is never a time I feel like this is a lost cause. Because I know they are always working and always trying. Every single one of them."
The Saints took away any suspense early in the third game, scoring the first 11 points. Schildmeyer served 10 of them including another ace.
St. Charles East continued to pull away and started clicking in the middle with Mosquera who put away 5 emphatic kills, taking sets from both Schildmeyer and Morgan Kull.
"I'm really pleased with Mikaela," Jennie Kull said. "She did an excellent job. Caroline Mckeighan in the back row passed really well today."
Mosquera led both teams with 12 kills and added 3 blocks. Other Saints leaders included: Anne Hughes (12 digs, 3 assists); Mckeighan (14 digs); Emily Schildmeyer (6 kills); Alex Mazanke (3 kills); Kyla Augustine (7 kills, 2 blocks); Meagan Smith (5 kills); Chloe Rojas (2 aces, 17 digs) and Morgan Kull (15 assists).
Batavia coach Lori Trippi-Payne was proud of the improvement her team made after losing in much more lopsided fashion to St. Charles East at the Prairie Ridge Tournament last weekend.
"Our defense played outstanding," Trippi-Payne said. "We had a game plan and they followed it. We watched a lot of video. We returned serves better and didn't get aced as much. We're getting better and better."
Maddie Jaudon was a big part of that defense with 17 digs. Bradle set 17 assists with the most going to Lundberg (7 kills, 3 blocks), Maddy Astling (5 kills, 3 blocks) and Danosky (5 kills).