Kull's Saints were clearly a fan favorite
St. Charles certainly was the place to be last weekend on both sides of the river, Friday night at St. Charles North and Saturday night at St. Charles East.
Playoff drama filled the air at the two St. Charles schools, first with the North Star football team advancing to the quarterfinals for the first time with a win over Elk Grove, then Jennie Kull's St. Charles East volleyball team coming up short in a bid for a third straight trip to state with a loss to an awfully impressive Cary-Grove team.
We'll have plenty more this week on North Stars football as they bid for the first semifinal appearance by any St. Charles school when they try to upset Glenbard West on the road Saturday.
But first I'd like to first take a look back at the volleyball season.
Was I the only one at both games struck by the crowds? While the St. Charles North bleachers filled up as the game went on, at kickoff it was shocking how many empty seats there were. And the following night the opposite was true, just how packed and how electric the atmosphere was inside St. Charles East's gym. It seemed the volleyball turnout almost matched football.
That's a credit to Kull's program, which has created a passionate, loyal following in the community much like Batavia boys basketball.
"No matter win or lose this was a great place to be because we had an amazing amount of support," Kull said Saturday night. "It was truly an energy-filled environment. I couldn't be prouder as a coach."
The Saints finished at 32-7 while falling 3 wins shy of defending their state championship. That didn't change how much Kull enjoyed this group of girls or the fans who support her team.
"We were blessed this season," Kull said. "I have a great faith, and I believe God has blessed me with a great group of girls to be with and a great support group. And this group that was here tonight supporting us, you have no idea. It means so much. Saints volleyball is a great thing and I think it is because of the fans and of the kids."
Kull couldn't say enough the three seniors she'll lose from this team, all of whom will graduate as state champions after last year's 4A title: Jacqui Seidel, Caroline Niski and Aisha Tan.
Seidel and Niski both injured their ankles just before the postseason began, Niski suffering a more severe bone bruise.
Seidel came back to lead the Saints to regional and sectional titles. Particularly in a sectional win over St. Charles North, she was playing at such a high level it was hard to tell if the ankle still bothered her.
Turns out it did. Seidel said missing practices and not being able to get in a flow ended up hurting the team, while at the same time the Ball State-bound senior took nothing away from Cary-Grove.
"It's been a little unlucky, it's been frustrating missing out on practices, you feel a little out of the loop," Seidel said. "But when it is all said and done when you get on the court you just try to ignore it as much as possible. Tonight (Saturday) we tried to do it and it just didn't end up happening."
The past couple weeks were even harder on the Maryland recruit Niski. She missed three of the five postseason matches, played just 3 points in another match before playing half of Game 2 Saturday night.
And yet she, like Seidel - both with tears after their final high school match - took a positive look back at a senior year that included everything from home games at a junior high gym to a flu outbreak to injuries.
"It's been really hard, I'm not going to lie," Niski said. "We've had our ups and downs. Our theme was anything is possible this year and we kind of joke around that we've had bad luck between the gym and swine flu and then injuries and all that stuff. But we just tried to stay positive the entire time and we never let it get to us."
It will be unusual this year for the Saints seniors to not be on the court at Illinois State trying to win a state title, though Niski said she's going "on a road-trip" to Normal this weekend to watch with some of her friends on both the team and St. Charles North.
When you coach players with talent - and character - like these, it's no wonder it is so hard for Kull to say goodbye.
"If we had been healthy the entire year things might have been a little different," Kull said. "Jacqui and Caroline did the best they could.
"I feel bad for Jacqui, Caroline and Aisha to be done. They have nothing to be ashamed of playing like that and having a season like that. I've been blessed for three years to have them varsity and I'm going to miss them greatly."
jlemon@dailyherald.com