North Stars stand tall in win over East
It's easy for a lifelong St. Charles resident to know what the Saints-North Stars rivalry means, but for a newcomer it might not sink in until you experience it first hand.
North Stars senior middle hitter Lindsay Williams, a transfer from Prairie Ridge, played in her first St. Charles North-St. Charles East match Thursday night at North.
Williams, who has committed to Western Kentucky, has played in plenty of big matches before and will do so in the future, yet she said she has never seen an atmosphere like this.
"That was amazing," Williams said. "It was the biggest game I've ever played in. I've never had this big of a rivalry. It gives you so much more energy. It builds us up so much."
The 6-foot-1 Williams and her taller teammates dominated the net, leading the North Stars to an exciting and hard fought 25-22, 18-25, 25-23 win.
Gretchen Giesler (8 blocks) and Elin Smith (4 blocks) were among the North Stars who gave the Saints hitters the most trouble finding openings.
"We threw a wall up there," Williams said. "Tonight Gretchen played awesome with blocking. It was incredible."
"That is the key to our game," St. Charles North coach Lindsay Trudell said. "It was really good they did it tonight. We've been waiting a long time. We've shown glimpses of our height. Today, (our) attacking and defense paid off."
The victory not only allowed the North Stars (11-6, 5-0) to retain city bragging rights, it put them a game ahead of the Saints (13-6, 4-1) in the Upstate Eight Conference.
"That was a great match. That's what it should be," St. Charles East coach Jennie Kull said. "Both teams came in ready to play with a lot of energy. They have a great program.
"They are tall and they block well. We hit into them and they took care of business."
St. Charles North never trailed in the deciding third game. Two blocks by Elin Smith (12 assists, 4 blocks) and another from Gretchen Giessler helped put the North Stars up early 4-0.
The Saints fought back, tying the game at 15, 16 and 17. The North Stars took the lead for good at 18-17 when Karlie Giesler hit a winner deep on the Saints' side.
They led 24-22 when the Saints' Mattie Boyd fended off one match point with a kill. But Smith took a set from Anne Stoermer on the next point and hammered down the game-winner.
"She (Annie) sets those plays so good," Smith said. "I told her to set it and it was just like practice. I'm really happy. This is definitely the game we all look for."
St. Charles East got off to slow starts in all three games. Seven service errors in the first game proved too much to overcome.
The Saints battled back from a 15-11 deficit in Game 2. From there, they outscored the North Stars 14-3 to force a third game.
Kull credited Julia Marks' serving for helping the Saints win Game 2.
"In the first game the nerves hit us," Kull said. "It was terrible. But then they got it together and started playing. Serves were our thorn in our side, but I don't want to take anything away from those (North) kids because North did a really nice job. They are a very good team."
Boyd led the Saints with 11 kills. Alex Coello (15 digs), Laura Homann (26 assists, 5 kills) and Caroline Niski (6 kills) also played well.
They just couldn't quite overcome a St. Charles North team that also got good efforts from Stoermer (16 assists), Karlie Giesler (7 kills) and Carla Tietz (8 kills). Tietz came through with two big kills late to seal Game 1, then also delivered a pair of timely hits in Game 3.
"They played very well," Trudell said. "They handled themselves well. This rivalry brings forth so much. It gets pretty crazy in the gym. I thought the girls ignored what was going on around them and focused on the court.
"We've been on a run," Trudell said of her 3-time defending UEC champs. "It's not just about East, it's about winning conference every opportunity that we can. I really am looking forward to hopefully continuing that a very long time."