Girls volleyball: St. Charles East tips Belvidere North
St. Charles East figured out how to win a third set in the nick of time Monday night.
Entering the Class 4A Huntley sectional semifinals with just a 2-9 record in third sets, the Saints found themselves in the third set against No. 1 seed Belvidere North.
After letting 3 match points slip away in the second set and with momentum on the Blue Thunder's side, St. Charles East regrouped and showed what it had learned from all those third-set losses.
The Saints escaped with a 25-20, 25-27, 25-19 win, handing Belvidere North (31-4) just its fourth loss of the season and earning a date with host Huntley (35-3) in Wednesday night's sectional championship match.
"Our main focus was to get the energy back on our side and really push and start the game well," Saints senior Calli Gentry said. "We wanted to start strong and continue that throughout the game."
The Saints (23-14) actually lost the first two points of the third set as Air Force-bound BrookeLyn Messneger put down one of her match-high 16 kills and added a block.
St. Charles East fought back, going on an 11-3 run to turn a 3-1 deficit into a 12-6 lead after the Blue Thunder hit out on consecutive points. They led comfortably from there; the closest the Blue Thunder got was 19-16 and McKenna Slavik came through with a kill on the next point.
Gentry had 12 kills in the match including the final one on match point.
Standing only 5-foot-9, Gentry will set in college at Wisconsin-Green Bay but is playing outside for the Saints.
"I just tried to find spots on the court," Gentry said. "I'm not the biggest hitter. This is my first season playing outside. It's been fun to see the court from a different perspective, different angles."
Slavik set Rachel Sheehan for the kill that ended the first set, and the Saints were in command of the second set too up 23-20 on Sheehan's block. They had chances to win the match at 24-22, 24-23 and 25-24 but Belvidere North battled through each rally.
"It really wasn't X's and O's at that point, it was all heart and confidence and belief," Belvidere North coach Amanda Carlson said. "They really dug deep to keep our season alive. Unfortunately in set three we just ran out of gas."
Kirsten Rogers and Sam Urban combined for 16 kills in joining Gentry and Sheehan in the attack for the Saints, who kept their composure after the second set disappointment.
"McKenna stayed very calm and was trying to find the right hitters," Saints coach Jennie Kull said. "I said, 'We've got this. We've been here so many times.' They took control of it and it was everybody. We've been waiting for this to happen. That was a very good team."