St. Charles North overcoming adversity, still winning
It probably comes as little surprise that St. Charles North's girls volleyball team improved to 8-1 after winning Tuesday's Upstate Eight Conference River Division showdown against Geneva.
After all, the North Stars captured 9 of their first 10 matches a year ago before stumbling in back-to-back losses to Crystal Lake South and Geneva and went on to finish as co-champions in the competitive UEC River.
This time around, however, coach Lindsey Hawkins' squad has faced some early season battles it hasn't been winning - at least from a health standpoint.
"The flu has been going around this school like wildfire," said Hawkins, now in her 7th season at the helm.
This isn't the first time a bug of some kind has infiltrated schools during the opening month.
"It happens at the beginning of the year with everybody back in school with all the germs (around)," said senior outside hitter Claire Anderson, who collected a team-high 7 kills in the North Stars' 25-21, 25-22 conference opening victory over West Chicago last Thursday.
This year has been a bit different.
"Usually early on in the year it's like everybody gets sick at once and then kind of get over it," said Hawkins. "But it has never been this bad. I feel like a lot of people have been getting it (flu) for days and weeks. We're all trying to get healthy at this point."
With the calendar reading early September, there is no time to panic.
"At the start of the year, you want to see what you've got and what you're working with - what you need to tweak and work on for the next couple of days," said Hawkins.
"It has been a blessing though because some of our younger players have really stepped up and have gotten a lot of varsity experience. That's really important."
Younger players like sophomores Lauren Caprini, Abby Graham, Amanda Parker and freshman Gigi Crescenzo.
It also helps to have veteran leadership on your side.
The North Stars have plenty, led by Division 1 recruits Daley Krage (Northwestern), Jaclyn Taylor (Creighton) and Anderson (DePaul).
"Those seniors play at such a high level and have been playing at such a high level for so long, they know how to coach them through stressful situations," said Hawkins. "Claire knows how to talk to Abby Graham and say, 'OK, so you got blocked that last point. Don't go down tipping - swing away.' "
The crash course is a necessary one with the competition that the North Stars face.
St. Charles North faces Crystal Lake South on Friday, participates in the Wheaton Classic at Wheaton Warrenville South (Sept. 16 and 19), and plays host to cross-town rival St. Charles East next month (Oct. 6) in the annual "Volley for the Cure" cancer fundraiser.
"Those young kids are learning at a pretty fast rate," added the coach. "This game is super fast and it seems like it gets faster every year."
Seniors Samantha Lappin, Jessica Panettieri, Nicole Thrun, Alyssa Tisinai, and juniors Anna DuVall, Brenna Lannert, Jordan Silvers and Hallie Wohlert add depth to the North Stars' lineup.
"I'm excited for this group," said Anderson. "We have great underclassmen and great seniors. I think all of the other seniors are great leaders and great role models. I think we're going to have a real good year."
St. Charles North has enjoyed its share of success in recent years, having won 4 Class 4A regional titles in 6 seasons under Hawkins' guidance.
During the 2 seasons that the North Stars didn't claim a regional crown, they finished with highly respectable records of 25-12 (2010) and 27-10 (2014), respectively.
A year ago, St. Charles North tied Geneva and St. Charles East for the conference title but received a No. 9 seed in the ultracompetitive Bartlett sectional complex.
In the regional semifinals, the North Stars "upset" 8th-seeded Neuqua Valley 25-17, 23-25, 25-15 on the Wildcats' home floor.
What was their reward?
A regional championship match against top-seeded Benet Academy.
The Redwings eliminated St. Charles North in straight games (25-11, 25-21) and went on to capture their third Class 4A state championship in 4 years.
Things definitely will not get any easier this postseason.
Perennial powerhouse St. Francis, which has captured 3 straight Class 3A state championships and 11 overall for legendary coach Peg Kopec, will be joining the likes of St. Charles North, St. Charles East, Geneva, Batavia and Glenbard West in Class 4A next month.
Craig Brueske can be reached at csb4k@hotmail.com