There's lots to shout about at St. Charles East

Following a 23-25, 25-22, 25-19 thrilling upset over Benet last November to win the Class 4A state title, Jennie Kull knew her St. Charles East volleyball team would take the court this year as defending champs.

She never could have guessed what court it would be.

When the Saints start their 2009 season next Tuesday against Wheaton North, St. Charles East will be running onto the court at Wredling Middle School, the same place many of the same Saints played when they were seventh- and eighth-graders.

While it's not the way Kull pictured the season starting, it's a chance for the Saints to put their "Anything is Possible" slogan to the test.

Last year the theme was "Build on Tradition" and all St. Charles East did was win the second state title in school history.

"There are two ways to look at it," Kull said. "It's either 'woe is me' or you can suck it up and realize you have an opportunity and you need to make the best of a situation. That's how it has always been."

That's the same attitude her team is taking, one with many of the same players who were on the court at ISU last fall. While St. Charles East has to replace setter Laura Homann, now at Syracuse, and Haley Streich, they have several other key players to build around and more talented youngsters on the way.

Senior Caroline Niski is one of those veterans, a Maryland recruit who went to St. Patricks and never played at Wredling.

"It's nice to have a school that is literally down the road from us," Niski said. "And really nice they have adjusted all their schedules so we can get in here. I know we are really appreciative of it."

St. Charles East has another Division I bound senior, Jacqui Seidel, who is returning to the court she played on in middle school.

The Saints will play at least three matches at Wredling and another "home" match at St. Charles North while the Saints' own gym floor is repaired. Kull first noticed something had happened to the floor on the first day of practice, finding part of it warped.

"It's not exactly what we expected but it's cool Wredling gave up the gym for us," Seidel said. "There's not much else we can do about the situation so we're just dealing with it.

"It's kind of going back to where you started. We'll get in our home gym eventually."

Seidel even found a positive, which will be the noise level in the smaller building.

"The gym is smaller so we'll get a closer feel with our fans and stuff," Seidel said. "It's so nice that we're close and don't have to travel far. We're excited."

Looking for a good omen? The Saints actually played at Wredling one other year, in 2001 when mold forced St. Charles East off its home court.

The result? A state championship.

"I always feel you have to make the best of any situation and my girls feel the same way," Kull said. "This is our home away from home. We get to see middle school kids which is always cool and we have an opportunity to play on a wooden floor which is what we want. We're excited, we'll see how it goes."

How it goes will depend on a lot of factors, starting with how the Saints replace Homann. Seidel, who likely will set at Ball State, is one option, though she also is one of the Saints' best hitters. Kull has a sophomore and freshman who also are competing for playing time at setter.

The Niski sisters, Caroline and her sophomore younger sibling Meghan, can put balls away against anyone. Meghan is one of five sophomores who will see playing time.

"We're relatively young, so we have to get through youth at the beginning of the season and figure out where we are," Kull said. "Rankings for me are kind of silly at this point because we haven't played a match. We'll take our knocks I'm sure but that's OK as long as we get better."

Kull's players have bought into taking the season one match at a time, with all eyes right now on Tuesday's home opener.

"We return the majority of our lineup and there is expectations from everyone else but we're going to take things one game at a time and focus on ourselves and not worry about what other people have to say," Seidel said. "Because in the end it is how we play as a team that matters."

Caroline Niski and Seidel have been around not just for the Saints' state title last year, but a third-place state finish in 2007. They only lost four matches last year, three of them to Naperville Central and Joliet Catholic.

They've been around a lot of victories at St. Charles East, and they want to be around a lot more in their final season.

Whatever gym they come in.

"For Jacqui and I both we have been on the team two years and both times gotten to state," Niski said. "Definitely you want to end senior year on a good note. Once you have been there, the other girls have seen what it is like, everyone is really excited."