Girls volleyball: St. Charles East aces West Aurora
It didn't take long for St. Charles East to shake off a sluggish start and show why it is expected to be one of the best girls volleyball teams in the state in a 25-13, 25-18 Upstate Eight Conference crossover win over West Aurora on Tuesday.
Trailing 11-10 in the first set, St. Charles East (3-0) scored 9 straight points, part of a 15-2 run to end the set. The Saints then scored nine of the first 10 points in the second set for a 24-3 surge spanning the two sets to take command of the match.
"First set we started a little slow but after that we started getting in things and I thought we pushed to the end," junior setter McKenna Slavik said.
Slavik will soon be joined in the Saints lineup by her sister and another setter Kyra, who played in Monday's win over Streamwood but not Tuesday. Kyra Slavik has been out with a finger injury.
Committed to Clemson and Ohio University, respectively, McKenna and Kyra Slavik are a big part of another stellar Saints lineup.
"They are both extremely talented," Saints coach Jennie Kull said. "The good news is I have a lot of options. It's nice to be able to do different things. We have three really good middles that are experienced and work well with our setters. Both our outsides and right side are doing well. Our setters are really good hitters too.
"You can have as many good things as you want, it's all about teamwork. That's what we are working on now."
Libero Anna Skryd got the Saints going with aces on the first two points. That was a sign of things to come; she served four aces, six different Saints had at least one ace, and St. Charles East finished with 10 aces to just one service error.
"Serving has been pretty good," Kull said. "We've been working a lot on that. I feel confident that's one of our strengths."
West Aurora (2-5) responded with 6-foot-1 senior Farah Taki putting away a pair of balls in the middle. The Blackhawks took their first lead at 6-5 on Olivia Mcpherson's kill, and held their last lead at 11-10 on freshman Chloey Myers' kill.
St. Charles East quickly turned the match in its favor with the 9-0 run. Klaudia Sowizral, a 6-foot-3 outside, had three kills in that stretch, Skryd served two more aces and Slavik was able to catch West Aurora off guard a couple times by pushing the ball deep.
"Especially when the other side is scrambling, when they are all close to the net, I'll push it deep corner," Slavik said.
After falling behind 9-1 in the second set, the Blackhawks got as close as 18-14 led by Mcpherson (6 kills), Myers (6 kills), Ally Riggs (15 assists) and Kendra Battle (3 kills).
With Ashley Smith serving, St. Charles East ended the match on another dump kill by Slavik.
"We're trying to get our serve-receive on par where we want it to be so we can stay in system," West Aurora coach Kevin Mortlock said. "That's what we are focused on."
Starting two sophomores and a freshman, Mortlock liked what he saw at times Tuesday.
"There was some good flashes from our girls," Mortlock said. "We have a younger team. I feel it's a great opportunity for us to build for right now but also build for the future. We are going to have highs and lows but overall we are going in the right direction."