St. Charles East pulls off big upset of WW South
All Saints Day indeed.
The St. Charles East girls volleyball team pulled off a huge upset in the Class 4A Lake Park sectional final Thursday when the Saints beat the No. 1 seed, Wheaton Warrenville South, 14-25, 25-21, 25-20, on All Saints Day.
"(On Wednesday), coach (Jennie) Kull said, 'OK, (Thursday) is All Saints Day, so be ready to play,' and we were like, 'OK, we are the Saints, let's bring it,'" St. Charles East setter Laura Homann said. "It was a cool experience the fans were chanting, 'All Saints Day.' It really meant a lot to our team. It was nice."
With the win, St. Charles East will play Prairie Ridge at the DeKalb supersectional at 6 p.m. Monday. The Saints are 27-12 and the Wolves are 22-16 after beating Rockton Hononegah in the Crystal Lake South sectional Thursday.
"We are extremely excited," St. Charles East senior Mattie Boyd said. "This was totally unexpected. We came in here as the underdog. No one expected us to win because (the Tigers) are a great team and they were slamming balls down, and we decided we were going to do the same thing back, and I think that's why we won."
Wheaton Warrenville South advanced to the sectional final after beating York 25-17, 25-12. The No. 3 seeded Saints advanced when they topped No. 2 seed and rival St. Charles North, 25-18, 25-21.
WW South looked well-rested and never trailed the Saints in the first game of the sectional final.
The second game, however, was a lot closer, as the Tigers led in the first half with the Saints taking the lead after breaking a 16-16 tie. They put the game away on one of Boyd's 8 kills.
Wheaton Warrenville South was powered by kills from Kathryn Kane, Mollie Kolosky and Anne Luhrsen in the first half of the deciding game, but serving streaks from Homann and Julia Marks, along with kills from Caroline Niski, Jacqui Seidel and Boyd pushed the Saints ahead in the second half.
"(The Saints') defense was really, really good and we started to play a little tentative, we got a little more frustrated and they built some confidence at the end," Wheaton Warrenville South coach Bill Schreier said on Game 3.
"That really, truly was the difference…it's difficult. I'm frustrated for (the Tigers). They go all season long, playing their hearts out. It's tough to lose at this juncture, but the credit goes to St. Charles East."
Boyd finished with 8 kills and 9 digs against the Tigers. Alex Coello added 15 digs, Julia Marks had 11 digs, Homann posted 26 assists and 2 blocks, Courtney Sjostrom tallied 6 kills and Niski had 8 kills and 3 digs for the Saints.
"I'm overwhelmed," Kull said. "I'm really proud of them. We were down and they said (during a timeout), 'Let's stay calm, let's chip away like we've been doing this whole second season and get the job done,' and they did."
The match -- and the Tigers' 33-6 season -- ended on a Wheaton Warrenville South net violation.
"It's the best year we've ever had," Schreier said. "I can't be down on that. But it's tough because we wanted to go further than this."
Kolosky finished the match with 10 kills and 3 aces, along with Becca Zlabis (10 kills), Kane (8 kills) and Luhrsen (30 assists, 4 blocks).
The Saints ended the North Stars' season in two games, avenging a loss earlier in the season.
In the first game, the North Stars led just once at 7-6, but St. Charles East scored the next 5 points and never looked back.
The second game began with 5 ties, but the Saints broke through with three consecutive points, and once again, never let the North Stars back in it.
"The reason why we beat Wheaton North (in the regional final) is because we took momentum," St. Charles North coach Lindsay Trudell said. "I don't think we served very tough tonight, and a lot of the time, that's where our momentum comes from -- a couple aces here and there -- and we didn't do that tonight. East, they were better-prepared for us. They certainly used their outsides (Boyd and Niski) as a weapon, and our defense wasn't ready for it."
"We accomplished the goal we had talked about, which was beat North in two (games)," Kull added. "That is what we wanted to do."
Boyd had 12 kills and 2 aces against St. Charles North. Coello had 8 digs, Homann finished with 22 assists, 3 kills and 5 digs and Niski posted 10 kills and 3 digs for the Saints.
Gretchen Giesler posted 6 kills and 5 digs, along with Carla Tietz (4 kills, 11 digs), Elin Smith (4 kills, 8 assists) and Karlie Giesler (3 kills, 2 aces, 2 digs) for St. Charles North.
The North Stars capped their season, which included their fourth consecutive Upstate Eight Conference title and third straight regional title, at 25-12.
"The season was amazing," Tietz, a senior, said. "I love the girls to death. I'm extremely proud of all the girls and how far we came and how much we've all grown and learned. It was an amazing experience."