Girls volleyball: Kull, St. Charles East win Scholten Classic again

Since she was a little girl, Morgan Kull remembers visiting the Fremd High School gymnasium to watch her mother Jennie's teams compete in the Peggy Scholten Volleyball Classic.

"My father loves volleyball, too, and he would take me," Morgan said.

Morgan was in the same gym on Saturday as a senior setter/hitter on her mother's highly-regarded St. Charles East girls volleyball team.

The 5-foot-9 senior won't forget her final visit as a member of the Saints.

She collected 10 digs, 12 assists and 3 kills to help St. Charles East stop defending Class 4A state champion St. Francis 25-20, 25-16 for the championship of the 16-team tourney named after the former Conant Hall of Fame coach.

"It means so much because I've been coming here so long, since about four years old," said Morgan Kull, now 17 years old. "It was super fun playing full time on the floor for my mother's team. It's kind of nostalgic being my last tourney in this gymnasium."

A gym where the Saints have played in more than a handful of title matches but Saturday won back-to-back titles for the first time.

"After beating them for the championship last year in this tournament and then seeing them go on to win the state championship made us realize we can do anything if when we are in the moment," Morgan Kull said.

The Saints (5-2) did have some question marks after their first two losses (Wheaton North and West Aurora) to start the season.

"We had a talk and said that we were playing too much as individuals," Morgan Kull said. "We had to relax and come together and work toward a common goal."

"We had a talk and made a lineup change, " added Jennie Kull, now in her 20th season. "And by gosh, every single kid made this a great tournament. We still have a lot of work but we feel we've come a long away since those first two losses."

The Saints came back from a 6-1 deficit in Set 2, taking the lead for good on a kill by senior Emily Schildmeyer which made it 9-8.

Morgan Kull followed with 4 service points to make it 14-8 and St. Charles East never looked back.

In Set 1, the Saints built a 19-14 cushion but the Spartans rallied to within 21-20 on a block from Cat Wilson.

The Saints regrouped and scored 4 straight points, including senior Kyla Augustine's big kill through a block off Kull's set which made it 22-20.

Kull later put down a kill tipped by a Spartan before a net violation ended the set.

Also running the offense with Kull was junior Kyra Slavik, who handed out 5 assists with her 7 digs.

Top contributors included Schildmeyer (4 kills, 2 blocks, 3 digs), Alexis Jett (2 kills, 12 digs, 2 assist), Augustine (6 kills, 2 blocks, 7 digs, 2 assists), Rachael Garland (1 kill, 2 digs), Kirsten Rogers (1 kill, 1 block, 1 dig) and Klaudia Sowizral, who put down a team-high 7 kills with 1 block.

Leading the Spartans (5-3) were senior setter Alexia Brynes-Hosey (24 assists), senior Jessica McCall (4 blocks, 3 kills), freshman Anna Calcagno (3 kills), senior Becca Fernandez (12 digs), senior Wilson (3 kills, 3 blocks) and senior DeLaney Malloy, who had a match-high 9 kills.

"I thought Becca (Fernandez) played good defense," said first-year Spartans coach Lisa Ston. "St. Charles East plays incredible defense. They go hard after every ball so we had a tough time scoring."

For Morgan Kull, she scored a victory she'll always remember.

"She's been wanting this one," her mother said. "She's seen a lot of teams come through here since she's been coming."

Now, she can say she's played on the only back-to-back championship teams for St. Charles East.