Saints keep rolling; York ousts Geneva
Glenbard East became the latest victim of the St. Charles East girls volleyball team's postseason express Tuesday night in Elmhurst.
On a night in which they were tied only twice and never trailed, the Saints dispatched Glenbard East 25-15 and 25-14 to advance to the championship match of the Class 4A York girls volleyball sectional.
The top-seeded Saints (34-4) will face third-seeded York on Thursday evening in Elmhurst after the hosts rallied in both games to turn back No. 2 Geneva 26-24, 25-21 in the nightcap.
Behind a 9-point service run by Syracuse-bound senior setter Laura Homann, St. Charles East took command early and never relinquished its grip.
"Serving is first about hitting the zone," said Homann, who had 3 of her 5 aces during the run that increased the Saints' 6-5 lead to double digits. "Then you get more and more aggressive."
Three of the Saints' other returning state veterans - Caroline Niski, Jacqui Seidel and Haley Streich - fed off the Homann wizardry from behind the service line with punishing effect.
Niski led all players with 11 kills; Seidel and Streich - playing in limited rotations - delivered another half-dozen apiece.
"Our ball-handling was awesome," said Niski, who iced the first game with a blistering kill. "We were really consistent with our passing. We spread it around evenly, which is another strength of our team."
Seidel opened the second game with four consecutive service points, and Streich made her limited minutes matter.
"I only play in the front row," the senior said. "I try my hardest to do my job in the front row. (Homann) had a great run of serves to get the momentum going."
St. Charles East scored 6 of the first 7 points in the second game, and Glenbard East, playing in its first sectional in five years, would come no closer than three the rest of the way.
Seidel had back-to-back kills to conclude the match for St. Charles East, which received 23 assists from Homann.
"They had an awful lot of offensive firepower," Glenbard East coach Marci Maier said. "Great teams make you look bad sometimes."
Senior Amanda Peterson led Glenbard East (25-13) with 6 kills and 3 blocks.
In the second semifinal, Geneva was looking for a little payback.
It never came.
For the second straight year the Vikings were knocked out of the playoffs by York.
Geneva scored the first 5 points of the opener, but the Vikings' early lead was systemically reduced with seven straight deadlocks between points 18 and 24.
"We just couldn't pull it through," said Geneva junior Lauren Wicinski, who was brilliant all night with match highs of 13 kills and 11 digs. "We did all of our fundamentals, but (York) played very good volleyball tonight."
Wicinski had four straight team points to give Geneva leads late, but York always found an answer.
"(Wicinski) was killing us from everywhere," said York coach Patty Iverson. "When she was in the back row, it gave us a chance to come back."
The Dukes did just that by scoring the last 3 points of the opener on a pair of Geneva hitting errors and a Kayla Mullaney kill.
Geneva had another quick start in the second game, but York setter Moe Damm personally resurrected the Dukes' fortunes.
The senior had an 8-point service run to not only negate the Vikings' 11-6 cushion but also give the Dukes a lead never to be relinquished.
"I knew I had to work to get (the serves) in," said Damm.
The Vikings' Megan Odenthal had a block for a point to forge the first of two ties, but Lauren Zerante had a pair of kills to anchor a 4-point run that proved to be the difference for York.
Kelsey Augustine had 7 kills for Geneva, and Katie Sommer added 5 more for the Vikings. Odenthal had 23 assists; junior Grace Burns added 7 digs.
"It was a well played match," Geneva coach KC Johnsen said. "I can't put my finger on (the reasons for the loss). It was one of those games game where one team got to 25 quicker than the other guy."
Both teams are 30-8 with the result.