St. Charles East begins state title defense
St. Charles East's girls volleyball team has a lot on the line when the 2009 postseason begins tonight.
Two straight trips to state. Defending their 2008 Class 4A state championship. Trying to get through a sectional played on a local rival's home court so they can play the supersectional on their home court.
It all begins at 7:30 p.m. tonight at Schaumburg, where the Saints put their No. 1 seed on the line against the winner of Glenbard East and Schaumburg.
The Saints wrapped up another strong regular season by beating Larkin Monday night to win the Upstate Eight Conference championship.
The top four seeds in the Class 4A Geneva sectional include three teams from the Tri-Cities: the Saints, No. 2 Geneva, No. 3 York and No. 4 St. Charles North.
St. Charles East could see St. Charles North next Tuesday in the sectional finals. The Saints came from behind to defeat the North Stars in three games earlier this year. The winner of the Geneva sectional advances to the St. Charles East supersectional against the Huntley sectional winner.
Geneva could wind up playing a couple rematches, first against No. 7 Batavia in the Addison Trail regional finals Saturday. The Vikings beat the Bulldogs twice in the regular season.
"We're a little banged up right now," Batavia coach Lori Trippi-Payne said after losing to Geneva a second time in a match that wasn't as competitive as the teams' first meeting. "It will be nice to get some rest before regionals. We'll be ready. It will be good for us to rest up."
Geneva's other rematch could come in the sectional semifinals against York, who knocked out both Geneva and St. Charles North in last year's state tournament before losing to St. Charles East.
With a 33-2 record, a senior-dominated team and the sectional played on their home court, the Vikings certainly hope this is the year for a long run.
"We're excited about the tournament," Geneva coach KC Johnsen said. "We're in a very strong sectional and very tough regional. There is nobody easy in our path. I think the girls are starting to execute pretty well."
First-year St. Charles North coach Lindsey Hawkins has many reasons to be excited about her team.
Those reasons include Karlie Giesler, the team's kill leader with 137, and one of the best servers with 34 aces. She's versatile enough to play right side hitter and a setter.
Hawkins pointed to senior captain Olivia Schneider as the North Stars' "unsung hero" who has 233 in a 6-2 offense.
The middle continues to be a key for the North Stars, where Allie Van Dril has 106 kills, 34 blocks and 21 aces. Sophomore Jill Stolzenburg has a 41 percent hitting efficiency and is second in both kills (124) and blocks (31).
In Class 3A, Kaneland coach Todd Weimer calls the Burlington Central regional the toughest in the state. The fourth-seeded Knights meet No. 5 DeKalb Thursday, and a win would pit them against No. 1 Hampshire.
"Our regional assignment is by far the toughest in the entire state," Weimer said. "We definitely know it's going to be a tough regional. Whoever wins it is going to go downstate, hands down. It is a very, very good regional."
Another very good regional will be held at Aurora Central, where all eyes are on a potential rivalry regional final between the host Chargers and Rosary, the fifth and fourth seeds, respectively.
To get to that game, which will be at 1 p.m. Saturday, Rosary will have to beat Kankakee and ACC has to get past Lincoln-Way West.
Every year before this one, the two Aurora schools would have played in the regular season, but with the split into the Suburban Christian Conference Gold and Blue divisions, this would be the first meeting this season.
"I know it was close between us and them getting the fourth and fifth seeds but in the end it didn't really matter," Rosary coach Lisa Kasper said. "I think our strong schedule will help."
Aurora Central coach Jeanne Czipri hopes for the same thing, after a third-place finish this past weekend at Kaneland's Spikefest.
"I signed us up for that tournament to get ready for tougher competition," Czipri said. "Another goal (besides winning the SCC) was to win regionals and beat either Rosary or St. Francis, pending a win vs. Lincoln-Way West. That's another goal of mine that they are capable of doing as well."