Girls volleyball: St. Charles East sweeps rival
Morgan Kull has literally grown up in St. Charles East's gym, and the last thing the senior and daughter of Saints volleyball coach Jennie Kull wanted was to walk out with a loss in her final match against St. Charles North.
Kull did everything in her power to make sure that didn't happen, finishing with 8 assists, 7 blocks, 3 kills and an ace in the Saints' 25-19, 25-16 victory on Volley for the Cure night.
The win snapped a two-year streak for St. Charles North (18-9, 4-2 in the Upstate Eight River) in its rivalry with St. Charles East (20-7, 5-1).
"This year was nice to get vengeance on them on our home court," Morgan Kull said. "North means a little more to me than most people. I would have been really upset if we went out here with a loss.
"It's been fun. Now it's getting a little sad because I've been around it so long. People get sad because it's been four years, but I've been around the gym 17 years. I remember when we had sectionals, I was in seventh grade, I sat up there (in the stands), we lost and I cried. It was ridiculous."
The North Stars started quickly Tuesday, scoring the first three points starting with a kill from Amanda Parker and ace from Lauren Caprini. The set stayed tight through 3 lead changes and 9 ties, the final one at 17-17 when Parker set Jordan Silvers for a quick swing in the middle.
The Saints regained the lead when Kirsten Rogers put a ball away. After neither team had led by more than 3 points, the Saints took the biggest lead of the night by scoring the final 5 points of the first set with Amanda Davidson serving.
Klaudia Sowizral did much of the damage, putting down a couple kills and also blocking a shot during the closing run.
The Saints never trailed in the second set. Sowizral once again saved her biggest blast for last, taking a back-set from Kull to make it 24-14, then closing the match out moments later with her fourth kill.
"We were nervous the first game," Jennie Kull said. "They settled down. Our passing was very good tonight and our defense was very good. I think that was one of the key things. And everybody kept their composure and played together."
Emily Schildmeyer led the Saints with 5 kills and Kyla Augustine had 3. Ilona Willsey had 4 blocks and Rogers 3, Kyra Slavik totaled 10 digs and 7 assists, and Alexis Jett had 8 digs.
St. Charles North coach Lindsey Hawkins said the North Stars didn't play as well as they did this weekend when they defeated Cary-Grove and Schaumburg to win the Saxon Invite.
"Our serve-receive was also better in those matches," Hawkins said. "They took us out of system and we were struggling to use our shots and really click back. They are very pin-heavy. Their outsides and right-sides are very good and that's hard for your middles. At times they had a lot of one-on-one chances."
Parker paced the North Stars with 5 kills and 6 assists. Other leaders included Abby Graham (5 kills), Caprini (16 assists), Brenna Lannert (1 ace) and Hallie Wohlert (6 assists).