Balanced York sinks N. Stars
The postseason is often referred to as a new season, but for the St. Charles North girls volleyball team, it proved to mirror much of their regular season.
No. 3 seed York ended the sixth-seeded North Stars' year with a 25-12, 25-15 victory Saturday in the championship game of the Class 4A Lake Park regional. The Dukes advance to their own sectional where they will play X at 7 p.m. Tuesday night.
St. Charles North coach Lindsay Trudell was impressed as much with the Dukes' aggressiveness Saturday as their talent.
"They have a lot of power. They have a lot of hitters who hit very hard," Trudell said. "But what York has that we don't is they are very intense. They are very focused. They are very aggressive. You can't teach that kind of stuff. They certainly do not want to lose. When they do lose, I think it affects them the next day. That's something you certainly need to go deep in the state tournament."
York scored the first three points of the match and never looked back. The North Stars pulled within 7-6 on consecutive hitting errors but couldn't catch up.
The Dukes got better as the game went on. They hit harder, played better defense and cut out all their mistakes in a 7-0 run that opened up a 21-10 lead.
"For some reason there is not enough confidence out there," Trudell said. "We haven't played close to our best in quite some time."
Four different players had at least 2 kills for York in Game 1.
"We don't have one great hitter, we have four hitters who are pretty solid," York coach Patty Iverson said. "If someone is not hot we can go to somebody else and it's not crucial that one player play great during a match."
Game 2 started better for the North Stars (20-17). Annie Stoermer served the first three points, with Karlie Giesler providing the first point on a block kill. The Dukes quickly tied the game at 3, and the score was tied again at 4, 6, 7, 9 and 10 before York took its first lead at 11-10.
The North Stars never led again. Much like the first game, the Dukes got better as the game progressed.
Kayla Mullaney ended the match with consecutive aces, 2 of the team's 7.
St. Charles North graduates seniors Stoermer, Kari Roberts, Stephanie Rasmussen, Kelsey Smith, Kristin Nelson and Ashley Johnston. Trudell pointed to a third-place finish in the Upstate Eight and a winning record as highlights for her team.
"There were a lot of ups and downs," Trudell said. "We didn't play the same lineup night after night, we didn't see the same team night after night. It's unfortunate for some of the seniors who have been around for a long time to have this sort of rocky season be their last memory."
York, meanwhile, is looking forward to returning home for next week's sectional.
"All four teams that are the top four seeds are very nice teams," Iverson said. "(It's) very positive to be hosting the next two rounds. We played better than the last match and that's important.. They did a nice job today, played defense and blocked some balls."