St. Charles North's middles making an impact

Any baseball or softball coach will tell you to build a strong team in their sport, you've got to be strong up the middle.

It also doesn't hurt in volleyball, and few teams have better middle hitters this year than St. Charles North with senior Allie VanDril and sophomore Jillian Stolzenburg.

"I've been blessed with two really good middles this year," St. Charles North coach Lindsey Hawkins said. "A lot of programs that's a hard position to fill. A lot of programs are outside-based teams. We have two really good middles to fill that gap other teams don't have."

VanDril has impressed Hawkins with her knack for putting away clutch balls throughout the year.

"She consistently brings a huge block to the game," Hawkins said. "Her kills come at key times for us it seems. She also is a very good server which you wouldn't expect from a middle. She keeps the ball in play."

Freshman phenom: St. Charles East's future looks bright once again, this time with a freshman already taking charge at setter.

Freshman Erienne Barry had big shoes to fill this year at St. Charles East, where Laura Homann set the Saints to the Class 4A state title last year before beginning her college playing days this fall at Syracuse.

Saints coach Jennie Kull eased Barry into the setter job, splitting time early this year with Jacqui Seidel. But as the season has gone on Kull is asking - and getting - more and more from Barry, which has allowed Seidel to pound away as one of the best offensive weapons around.

"We started the season with a 6-2 with Jacqui because why wouldn't you with a Division I setter," Kull said. "Jacqui is useful in so many areas as well. Erin has experience setting 5-1. So I think it's smoother with her in that position."

Barry stands 5-foot-10, so she has good height at a young age. Kull said there's still occasional and understandable miscues but they are becoming few and far between.

"She still makes those freshman errors and has that inexperience but it's getting better and better every match that we step out," Kull said. "It's a real positive. I think everyone is really trying to help with communicating with her. It's a team effort. That's a huge position to be in as a freshman and to fill Laura Homann's shoes."

Saints junior outside hitter Samantha Szarmach has been impressed with how much Barry has accomplished in her first season.

"From staring in the summer Erin has improved so much," Szarmach said. "She's handling it so well. It's a lot of pressure on varsity, especially as a freshman. I think she's doing a great job."

Race is on: With the regular season coming to a close next week, it looks like the Upstate Eight race will go right down to the wire, with St. Charles East's match at Bartlett one that could help break a current logjam with those two teams and Waubonsie Valley, who defeated St. Charles North 25-18, 25-18 Tuesday night and also beat St. Charles East earlier this season.

South Elgin coach Joni Melahn's team isn't in that mix of teams, but that doesn't mean the Storm coach isn't looking forward to seeing how the race plays out.

"Everybody is beating everybody in the conference right now," Melahn said. "I feel like this conference is really strong and it's mentally who can show up that night. It will be interesting to see who comes out on top."

Szarmach liked the Saints' chances, especially after a strong second-place finish over the weekend at the Mizuno Cup.

"We're working really hard," Szarmach said. "We're doing the best we can. Just one loss (to Waubonsie Valley) doesn't set the tone for the rest of the season for us. We are going to have to work. It's not going to come easy for us. It's a tight race. We still have to keep working hard no matter what happens with the other teams."

Postseason possibilities: Addison Trail was the place to be last winter to watch the Geneva girls basketball team win its first sectional championship, and it will be the place to be in a couple weeks for a potential Geneva-Batavia regional championship match.

That is one of possible postseason matchups that await. To get there, the No. 7 seeded Bulldogs need to hold off always dangerous Wheaton Warrenville South from the DuPage Valley, while Geneva has to avoid any monumental upset against the Addison Trail/Rolling Meadows winner.

Looking even further ahead, a St. Charles North-St. Charles East rematch is possible in the Geneva sectional semifinals if the Saints and North Stars both win regionals. The Saints had to come from behind earlier this year to defeat the North Stars in three tight games. At No. 5, St. Charles North drew a seed behind No. 4 Bartlett even though the North Stars defeated the Hawks in Upstate Eight play.

If the top two seeds make it to the sectional final, area volleyball fans will be in for a treat watching Lauren Wicinski and Kelsey Augustine swing away for Geneva on its home court against the Seidel and Caroline Niski-led defending state champion Saints.