Girls volleyball: St. Charles East stuffs Plainfield North

Plainfield North knew what was coming from St. Charles East senior setter McKenna Slavik Wednesday night.

Stopping it was another matter.

Slavik, a Clemson recruit, showed her court vision with one quick tip after another, repeatedly catching the Tigers out of position during the Saints' 25-11, 25-16 victory.

Those headsy plays were exactly what Plainfield North coach Matt Slechta warned his team about before the game.

"She is so smart," Slechta said. "She sees the court so well. I have a sophomore middle and a senior middle and both are very inexperienced. We talked about that before the game and she still catches you off guard with that."

Slavik led the Saints with 7 kills and 6 assists against a Plainfield North (1-1) team that was coming off a win over Wheaton North.

St. Charles East (1-0) also got 6 kills from Calli Genry and 3 from Sam Urban while playing dynamite defense in the back row to frustrate the Tigers' hitters.

"We've been struggling in practice with serve-receive but I felt tonight it wasn't even a thing anymore," Slavik said. "I didn't have to run as much. And the defense was really good in the back row."

Plainfield North took its only leads early in the first set. A 7-point service run by sophomore Kayla Daros, which included a pair of aces, helped the Saints build a 13-5 lead.

Emily Stallmann also served a pair of aces, one of them taking the Saints to set point at 24-10. Slavik closed the game with another quick push to an opening in the back row.

"I kind of look over real quick and see where people are moving and try to go the opposite of that," Slavik explained.

The Saints never trailed in the second set, building their biggest lead at 17-5 on an ace from libero Jessica Garland.

One of the only bad stretches of the night followed for St. Charles East as Plainfield North trimmed 4 points off its deficit. The Saints ended the match on a textbook pass from Garland in the back row to Slavik who lofted a set to Gentry for a kill.

"Pleased," St. Charles East coach Jennie Kull said of the opening win. "That's (Plainfield North) a good team. Our kids were very loose and defensively I knew that was going to be one of our strengths this year, it has to be. And McKenna, she's amazing."

Kull credited new assistant coach Matt Caputo with his work on the team's defense. It showed, with Garland and Daros both finishing with 5 digs.

"Jessica did a great job, she was confident and moved well," Kull said. "Kayla served great and defensively she was all over too. And Emily Stallmann passed so well. Our middles got set and got some hits. It was a combination of everybody doing what they need to do."

"If you can't pass or serve it's hard to play," Slechta said. "And St. Charles East is a great program. It tests where we're both at."