St. Charles North tops Larkin; Saints up next

With everything St. Charles North's girls volleyball team has coming up Thursday, it would understandable if the North Stars weren't completely focused Tuesday.

Thursday is their first crack at St. Charles East, the defending conference and state champions. It's also the first chance for Lindsey Hawkins to play against her alma mater and coach against her former coach and good friend Jennie Kull.

And if that's not enough, the schools are hosting Volley for a Cure, an event that will raise money for breast cancer research.

So with that coming up in two days, and with 2-12 Larkin in town Tuesday, it might explain why the North Stars weren't as sharp as they hoped in a 25-19, 25-16 win.

"I wouldn't call it a nice tuneup," Hawkins said. "We need to bring the fire and intensity to every single game and right now we're not doing it. We wait until we play those good teams like St. Charles East and that's when we bring our fire. It's always nice to get a win but we want to put people away like we know we can."

Larkin (2-13, 0-2) pushed the North Stars, helped by the return of Amanda Lye (knee) and Piper Johnson (illness) who missed last weekend's Maine East tournament.

While the Royals played better, the North Stars weren't happy with their own play.

"It was a roller-coaster for us," North Stars senior setter Olivia Schneider said. "We didn't play that hard, our heads weren't in the game. Tonight was not the best match for us."

Stacie Beaver led Larkin with 5 kills and 2 blocks. Lexi Smithberg served 5 aces, and Lye and Jill Casebeer both had a kill.

"Having them (Lye and Piper) there helped us play a little better," said Larkin coach Gail Johnson, though the team received bad news with right-side Megan Johnson likely lost for the season.

"We just have to be quicker on blocks, quicker on defense and that will help us play a lot better."

The North Stars also are hoping to be better Thursday. After a sluggish opening game, St. Charles North broke free from Larkin at 8-8 in Game 2 on three straight aces from Jen Ask.

Schneider set Emma Headley, Allie VanDril, Jill Stolzenburg and Karlie Giesler for kills to help the North Stars pull away. Headley's tip kill ended the match.

Schneider (12 assists, 3 aces), Miranda Coello (6 digs), Van Dril (5 kills), Ask (4 aces, 4 kills), Geisler (3 aces, 4 kills), Stolzenburg (9 kills) and Sarah Clarkson (8 assists) led the North Stars.

"It's going to take a lot of determination from all of us," Schneider said of playing the Saints. "We all have to be on the same page. We all have to bring our A games. We think we can beat them if we all bring our A game."

Many of the North Stars play on the same Club Fusion team with the Saints, and Schneider said she is friends with most of their team.

"It's going to be a huge match for us," Schneider said. "We've been fired up about it the whole season. Not only are they a really good team but they are our cross-town rival so we are super pumped for this game."

While it's nothing new to see friends from both sides of town square off on the court, it will be interesting to see Hawkins coach against Kull. Hawkins graduated from St. Charles East in 2003. She was a junior on the Saints' 2001 state championship team.

"She (Kull) is one of the main reasons why I became a coach," Hawkins said. "She is a huge inspiration to me. We're still very, very close which is why we're doing the Volley for the Cure event together. She taught me a lot about what it is to be a good person, a good coach and a good motivator."

Hawkins also wants this to set a new tone in the rivalry.

"I love her to death, I still want to win," Hawkins said. "In the end we'll always be friends. We want this to be a friendly rivalry. I think for the longest time it's kind of been a nasty rivalry. We want it to be friendly again."