Saints making quick strides

If the first match of the season for the St. Charles East girls volleyball team went just OK, the second can easily be called great.

The Saints made a huge turnaround from Tuesday to Wednesday, as they opened the Upstate Eight Conference schedule with a 25-8, 25-9 win over Larkin at St. Charles East.

With the win, the Saints are 2-0 after topping nonconference Wheaton North in two games on the road Tuesday. Larkin's match with the Saints was its first outing of the season.

"We are really happy with the way we played tonight," junior Caroline Niski said. "I think we did awesome. This is such an adjustment. We have so many new people, but we are playing awesome together. It's a lot to look forward to. We are really excited for the season."

"Much better than last night (against Wheaton North)," St. Charles East coach Jennie Kull said. "Our ball control was better, our focus was better and of course we are in our own gym. I saw a lot more things I was pleased with (against Larkin) than I did (against Wheaton North). They were more competitive and they communicated more."

In Game 1, the Saints scored five consecutive points early and never let Larkin in the game. They scored 5 of the last 6 points, as Olivia Desormey's kill was the final point. Larkin finished wityh 13 errors in the first game.

Larkin made less mistakes in the second game, but St. Charles East's balanced attack started to show. Five different players recorded at least one kill, but the highlight of Game 2 was Niski's serving. In one stretch of five consecutive points, she recorded three aces. She ended with with a game-high 4 aces.

The final point of the match was on a Larkin net violation.

"We had the momentum on our side the whole time," Niski said. "We were really excited. When we get fired up, it's always good to have that energy on our side."

St. Charles East's stats were spread out, as Haley Streich, Niski, Samantha Szarmach and Jacqui Seidel each recorded 5 kills. Maisey Mulvey led the way in digs with 7, Streich and Laura Homann each posted 4 blocks with Homann finishing with 24 assists.

Jessica Harris and Amanda Lye each finished with a pair of kills to lead Larkin.

"It's tough, but we'll get there," Larkin coach Gail Johnson said. "Serve-receive was a little shaky today...our goal is to get more touches on the ball, get our passes up and everything is going to pull together."