Girls volleyball: St. Charles North sweeps Kaneland
As a No. 1 seed with a 33-3 record, St. Charles North enters the postseason with a target on its back.
The way the North Stars are playing, that target is going to be mighty hard to hit.
St. Charles North needed a little over 30 minutes to win its regional opener Tuesday night, beating a 28-7 Kaneland team 25-15, 25-17 on the Knights home court in the Class 4A Kaneland regional.
The North Stars know they are going to get the best from their opponents.
"We talk about coming out every single day making sure we're making the most of our time together," North Stars coach Lindsey Hawkins said. "Making sure every time we step on the floor we are improving. They know that they got here together and they want to finish it together. Every single person has a role on this team and they all have to play their role."
The North Stars will play DeKalb (25-11), a 25-23, 25-12 winner over Batavia, for the regional title Thursday.
Following its Upstate Eight Conference title, a regional championship is the next step for a team with big goals.
"For us it's definitely to go to state," right-side Amanda Parker said. "We've been saying that since the beginning. We've been saying this is our year. This specific group of girls, we've never had a bond like this before."
This is the first year Kaneland has been bumped up to 4A, and the Knights won their first 4A game Monday over Larkin.
But the North Stars were a different story, trailing just briefly 4-2 in the first set and 1-0 in the second.
"Last game you think you would have a lot of tears but they knew they played as hard as they could," Kaneland coach Cynthia Violett said. "They said that was so much fun. St. Charles is definitely the better team. Our goal was to go out and give it their all."
An ace from Lauren Caprini tied the first set at 4. The Knights stayed close early on a kill and ace from Sheika Mushunduzi, and a tip kill by Shelby Hannula.
Gigi Crescenzo put the North Stars ahead to stay 9-8, and CJ Johnson followed with an ace. A blast from Katie Lanz made it 14-9 as Violett took her first time, but the North Stars kept surging.
Lanz and Johnson teamed up for a block for a 19-12 lead. Those two both served aces before Crescenzo banged a shot off the Kaneland block on set point.
"The key for us was serve-receive," Parker said. "That's what we've been working on the most."
The North Stars won the second set in similar fashion. After Hannula's block brought Kaneland within 19-15, the North Stars outscored the Knights 6-2 to end the match.
Parker put away the final point with a cross-court kill. She had 6 kills, second on the North Stars to 10 by Lanz.
"We tried to spread the ball around, keep Kaneland on their toes, make sure they never knew where it was going," Hawkins said.
Mushunduzi led Kaneland with 4 kills and Katie Jablonski had 3. Sydney Fedderly set 5 assists, Hannula 4, and Julianna Vassallo led in digs with 7.