Scouting the Class 4A St. Charles East supersectional
Class 4A St. Charles East supersectional
The matchup: Cary-Grove (35-4) vs. St. Charles East (32-6) today at 6 p.m.
How they got there: Cary-Grove defeated Dundee-Crown and Barrington to win the Barrington regional and defeated South Elgin and Huntley to win the Huntley sectional; St. Charles East defeated Glenbard East and Willowbrook to win the Schaumburg regional and defeated St. Charles North and York to win the Geneva sectional.
Supersectional history: Cary-Grove seeks its first supersectional title. The Trojans lost to Stevenson in their only appearance in 2001; St. Charles East is making its 10th supersectional appearance. The Saints have advanced to state six times, most recently in 2008, when they went on to win the Class 4A state title.
Previous meeting: Cary-Grove defeated St. Charles East 25-21, 25-21 at the Prairie Ridge Invite on Sept. 12.
Outlook: Cary-Grove seeks the first trip to the state finals in school history, whereas experienced St. Charles East is aiming for its third straight trip to Normal. The Saints won the state title last year by defeating Benet Academy in 3 games. They finished third in 2007. St. Charles East was not a full strength in September, when Cary-Grove beat the Saints for the Prairie Ridge Invite title. Libero Maisey Mulvey missed that match and coach Jennie Kull said afterward the Saints' lack of ball control was their downfall against the Trojans. Nevertheless, being able to point to an early season win against the defending state champs gives Cary-Grove a higher level of confidence heading into a raucous match on the Saints' newly refurbished home court than it would have enjoyed otherwise. "We have confidence knowing we can play with St. Charles East," Cary-Grove coach Patty Langanis said. "It's going to be on their home court, which is not going to be an easy environment for us. St. Charles East is the returning state champion. They know what it takes to get to state. They've been there. This is all new territory for our school, for our program to make it to state. I don't know how that will play out on the court. We're definitely going to talk about it and make sure we stay focused on what we need to do and not let anything become a distraction to us." Mulvey has long since returned to the lineup, but injuries continue to plague the Saints. Senior Caroline Niski (Maryland) played the final 3 points of Tuesday's victory over rival St. Charles North but has otherwise been unable to play due to a high ankle sprain suffered on Oct. 17. She warms up before each match to test the ankle and will be a game-time decision against the Trojans. The Saints have other experienced options in Jaqui Seidel (Ball State) and Meghan Niski. Meghan Niski led St. Charles East with 13 kills against York in the sectional title match, and Seidel finished with 11. Junior Sam Szarmach filled in for Caroline Niski against York and had 7 kills. The Saints have been pushed to a third game in the playoffs by Willowbrook and York. The Trojans have swept all four of their matches and have not allowed more than 17 points in a single game. Junior Kelly Lamberti led Cary-Grove with 11 kills against Huntley and senior setter Abbey Heredia had 19 assists and a team-best 9 digs. "Cary-Grove is a really good team," Kull said. "We're going to have to play our best match to beat them. Offensively, they have a lot of different weapons. We need to be ready to go. They are a very well-rounded team, very experienced."
Advancement: The winner will advance to play the winner of the Libertyville supersectional between Glenbrook South (35-4) and Lake Zurich (33-6) at Redbird Arena in Normal on Friday, Nov. 13 at 6:30 p.m.