St. Francis comes up big against Stars
There's no substitute for game experience.
Playing its 16th match of the season and fresh from a tournament-winning performance at Streamwood this past weekend, St. Francis' boys volleyball team rolled to a 25-11, 25-14 nonconference triumph over St. Charles North on Monday night at the Spyglass Athletic Center in Wheaton.
Led by junior middle hitter Steve Howe (4 kills, 2 blocks) and senior setter Mike Segneri (2 kills, 5 digs, 17 assists), the Spartans attacked primarily through the middle of the North Stars' defense in Game 1.
St. Francis reeled off 6 consecutive points early on, turning a slim 6-5 lead into a more comfortable 12-5 margin. Three of those points came on St. Charles North hitting errors, while outside hitter Dave Metzler added 2 of his 3 kills during the surge.
Howe, Joe Pfeiffer (3 kills) and Joe Mordell took turns in the middle, capitalizing on picture-perfect sets from Segneri, as the Spartans finished the game with an 8-2 surge.
"We thought it was something that we need to keep working on with our middle hitters," said Spartans coach Mike Lynch. "We did make an effort to make it a bigger part of the game tonight."
"Every team we've faced so far has had a problem with what we call the 'U-ball,'" added Howe, "which is like a come-around. No one has stopped us on it so far. We should run it more."
In Game 2, the North Stars (2-2) kept things close early with senior outside hitter Kegan Haeseli recording 6 of his team-leading 7 kills.
But the battle-tested Spartans capped off the night with an 18-8 run, receiving plenty of support from backup setter Mark Roberts (2 kills) and defensive specialist Sean Fallon (5 digs).
"We came off a big tournament this past weekend beating Neuqua Valley, which we had lost to the previous weekend," said Lynch. "We're playing our 16th match (to the North Stars' fourth).
"We were in the exact same situation two weeks ago at Glenbard East (tournament). We had only played three matches and most of the other teams had played 10 to 12. It makes a big difference, especially since both of our schools don't have club-dominant teams.
"No matter what drills you do, there's nothing to simulate that game experience. I think that had a big factor. We're kind of midseason form - and even a little bit ahead."
The loss began a busy week for the North Stars, who will face Elgin, Downers Grove South and South Elgin the next 3 nights before participating at Saturday's Addison Trail Invite.
"A lot of schools have played a bunch of games and this was only our fourth game," said North Stars coach Guy Lum. "Give St. Francis credit - they're impressive. They knew how to hit through our blocks real well.
"In the first game, we made a lot of hitting errors. We were just having a tough time. And tonight was a different lineup from the first three games. We're still working with different lineups."