St. Charles North tops Neuqua Valley in 3

Even after a less-than-stellar game one performance by host Neuqua Valley, no one was surprised to see Tuesday's regional semifinal go three games.

The 25-11 Wildcats have played too well the last several weeks - including a 3-game win over these same St. Charles North Stars in last week's UEC crossover battle - to let anyone walk over them.

So sure enough, the Wildcats rebounded from an error-filled 25-17 setback in game one to even things up with a 25-23 thriller. But that's when St. Charles North (27-9) picked up its game and its blocking and avenged last week's loss by taking the decisive third set 25-15 to earn a shot at top-seeded Benet Academy in Thursday's regional title game.

A key in that finale was the blocking of the North Stars, who picked up 6 blocks each on the night from each Kailey Grove and Jaclyn Taylor. The North Stars used a 10-2 surge in the third set to turn an 8-8 tie into a commanding 18-10 lead with Grove and Taylor combing on 5 blocks during the run.

"We had our blocking come alive and our defense looked a lot better," St. Charles North coach Lindsey Hawkins said. "Play together … we talk all the time about playing together as one unit on the court."

That goal was reached as several North Stars made major contributions in the win, but down the stretch it was those middle blockers who had the biggest impact.

"Our middles, especially Kailey Grove, were huge force at the net. That's what she's been doing for us all season," Hawkins said. "She's just now emerging as an offensive threat, but her blocking tonight was just awesome."

Daley Krage had 12 kills and Claire Anderson added 9 for the UEC River champs, who had to square off with a strong UEC Valley champ to open the postseason with a No. 8-9 matchup. Grove said even after falling to the Wildcats last week in 3 sets, that she felt good about a third showdown on Tuesday. The two teams also met earlier this season and the North Stars prevailed in three in that one.

"This time I felt like we had a lot more fight and we were really pumped and we thought we would take this game," said Grove.

For the Wildcats, it was a tough playoff opener and a quick departure from the postseason for a team that set the school record for wins at 25 and also claimed its first-ever outright conference title.

"We did have a lot of uncharacteristic errors in that first game," Wildcats coach Kelly Simon said. "So game two we shifted that focus and told them to just go out and play the way they play. We got our 17 team kills out of 25 points. That's more like it and we had a groove going on."

Claire Grove and Abby Skyrd each finished the night with 10 kills, and Kaelan Haag and Emily Krachenfels each did a little of everything on the floor as the Wildcats attempted to advance.

But the North Stars were just too strong in the game three on Tuesday.

"Game 3 St. Charles North just outplayed us. They blocked tremendously all match long and they played great defense. They got kills they made minimal errors," Simon added.

But that's not to overshadow the season they had.

"It's extremely disappointing," she said. "None of us were prepared to not win tonight. We were expecting to win. We worked hard in preparation for this match and it's very disappointing. But we had a great season and the girls have so much to be proud of."