The comeback kids

Jeff Jones couldn't have possibly flashed a bigger smile if St. Charles East had just shut out St. Charles North in a pair of 25-0 games.

Tuesday night's cross-town match turned out to be about the opposite of that, at least in terms of competitiveness.

Jack Rasmussen's kill put an end to a back-and-forth match that featured 32 ties in a 24-26, 25-23, 25-23 thriller for the Saints in front of a large, festive senior night crowd.

"Exilirating, by far the best win of the year," Jones said.

Rasmussen served for match point, then after a wild scramble wound up ending the match on a kill from the back row.

"It was crazy." Rasmussen said. "It was a very hittable ball. Instead of setting it to the outside I decided to take it and I had a good connect."

The Saints (17-19, 4-3) showed resolve after faltering down the stretch of Game 1. St. Charles North (11-14, 5-3) fought off a pair of game points, taking its first lead at 25-24 before Pat Sullivan ended the game with a kill on a Saints pass that floated over the net.

"It was a big thing for us to bounce back and stay aggressive after that first game," Rasmussen said. "It was a big step for us."

St. Charles East also adjusted in the final two games and started double blocking the North Stars' best hitters, Kegan Haeseli and Dillon Havens.

More than any strategy, St. Charles East coach Stephanie Gooden said the difference in the final two games was the Saints' mental approach.

"Our guys started playing not to lose, very tentative and that caused us to lose that first game," said. "What was important in both games 2 and 3 is that at 20-20 we realized we have to play to win. We have to swing. Once they figured that out and trusted it, it worked."

Game 2 was tied 13 times; Game 3 15 times. Neither team led by more than 2 points in Game 2, by 3 in Game 3.

St. Charles East made just a couple more key plays when it counted, including Rasmussen's kill to end the match.

"I don't know what happened, the ball was just going all over," Jones said. "It went through, that's all that matters.

"I like to think we are a scrappy team. We get a lot of random points, a lot of weird points like that."

Gooden worked all 9 of her seniors into the win. Jones (24 assists, 5 kills, 2 aces), Taylor Flahaven (8 kills, 3 blocks), Taylor Heavington (8 kills, 3 blocks), Eric Coleman (7 kills) and Baxter Reed (8 digs) were among the standouts, who defeated the North Stars for the first time in Gooden's three years as coach.

"The last two seasons we wouldn't have pulled this off," Gooden said.

Sullivan led the North Stars with 37 assists. Haeseli and Havens had 15 and 9 kills, respectively, with Kevin Rose adding 9 digs.

Earlier this year, St. Charles North won a match against Bartlett that all games were decided by 2 points.

"The kids are disappointed," North Stars coach Guy Lum said. "The ball can bounce both ways in those type matches."