St. Charles East getting healthy heading into title game
The way St. Charles East looked in a dominating 25-16, 25-17 victory over St. Charles North Tuesday night in the Class 4A Geneva sectional semifinals, it wouldn't take much for the Saints' huge fan following to picture this team getting back where they've been the past two years - the state tournament next weekend in Normal.
Coach Jennie Kull said Tuesday was the best her team has played weeks. The Saints (31-6) will try to repeat that performance tonight against York (28-8) in the sectional championship game, with the winner advancing to Saturday's St. Charles East supersectional against the Huntley sectional winner, Cary-Grove or Huntley.
That doesn't mean there aren't a few questions heading into tonight's match, such as...
How is the health?: Jacqui Seidel played like Saints fans have come to expect Jacqui Seidel to in Tuesday's win, shaking off an ankle injury she first suffered in practice last Wednesday when someone landed on her ankle while she was setting.
Seidel still sported an enormous ice bag on her left ankle after the game but said she feels fine and the ice is for precautionary reasons.
"I just try to focus on the game and keep my mind off it and I don't even notice it out there," Seidel said. "My teammates' energy helps me stay confident and excited to be out there."
Health part 2: Caroline Niski played her first match in over two weeks Tuesday, but only for the final three points.
Niski, like Seidel a three-year starter and key player on the last two state teams, injured her ankle at the Autumnfest tournament Oct. 17. She also suffered a bone bruise.
Kull has been thrilled with Sam Szarmach's play, which has helped the Saints not have to rush Niski back.
Don't be surprised to see Niski settle back into a bigger role as the postseason continues.
"We got an OK Monday for her to play," Kull said. "She did a little practice (Monday), in warmups hitting (Tuesday). We know she can go. Sam has been doing a fantastic job. We just feel the rhythm right now we are better off staying the way we have been. But it was great getting Caroline in.
"She's slowly but surely getting herself back in. We have a lot of kids that are sitting on our bench that can do a lot of different things. When we need them they step up and play for us. We'll see who we need when the time comes. You can't keep a kid like that (Niski) off the floor."
What about the Dukes?: York is led by senior Lauren Zerante, a Bradley recruit, who like Seidel and Niski hasn't had the smoothest final weeks of her high school career.
Zerante has been battling plantar tendinitis and missed the Dukes' first regional game. But you couldn't tell with her 11 digs and 13 kills in a 19-25, 25-16, 25-16 come-from-behind win over Geneva Tuesday.
Zerante was on the court in York's sectional final last year against the Saints, a 25-22, 25-19 St. Charles East win.
"They were energetic all around," Zerante remembered of the Saints. "We're just going to try to play our own game and mix it up and not be so one-dimensional and we'll be fine."
Third-seeded York, now 24-2 in its last 26 matches, will try to mix things up with Morgan Semmelhack (6 kills, 5 blocks Tuesday), Caroline Rose (6 kills, 5 aces) and others.
"They have a lot of offense, defense," Kull said. "We're going to have to play another great match."
York coach Patty Iverson knows who she needs to watch after her first-hand look at Seidel on Tuesday.
"We're going to have to play tough," Iverson said, "and we're going to have to block weak side down the line."
Freshman nerves?: Saints freshman setter Erienne Barry doesn't seem to have any, directing the impressive win Tuesday.
"It's just another game," Barry said of tonight's match. "We're going to come out and play our hardest and it's going to be fun. I'm excited."