Boys volleyball: St. Charles North tips rival Saints
Tuesday's Upstate Eight triumph for St. Charles North against rival East was rooted in a Monday nonconference loss at Maine South.
"Yesterday's game we were totally unfocused and it cost us crucial points and ultimately the match. Today coach pulled us into a classroom and made us do a team activity that kept our minds on this game," Danny Hamilton explained without revealing details of that "team activity."
Instead of getting swept in two games, the North Stars pulled out identical 25-23 game wins for the 2-0 match victory over the visitors. The fact that Game 1 featured 19 ties and 9 lead changes was considered typical of an rivalry that both sides agree is not based on any animosity, but instead on mutual respect.
It was the league opener for the North Stars (6-6, 1-0) in their quest for a fourth straight - and fifth in six years - UEC crown. While East's ledgers dipped (2-5, 1-1), the Saints are far from being out of contention since the league scrapped divisional play in favor of an 11-team round robin format.
"The difference between losing 0-2 versus winning 2-0 is being mentally prepared. You let up on your focus for a couple of points and you lose overall," Hamilton added referring to the night before when the North Stars lost 25-22 and 25-21.
Adding flavor to the rivalry is history as North coach Todd Weimer having once directed the East JV unit and worked alongside Saints boss Kate McCullagh, who was then a varsity assistant. McCullagh and her husband Bill put together the Fox Valley Volleyball Club program which includes a few North Stars.
After initial 2-0 and 3-1 leads, North got a two-point edge at 114-132 thanks to Hamilton plus teammates Jackson Kolodziej and Kyle Donlevy forming a wall to block an East spike. The Saints got their one and only two-point lead at 21-19 prompting a North Star timeout.
"The key tonight was that we held our composure," Weimer said. "Staying focused was really big. Even if we struggled a little on offense or defense, we stayed with our game plan. Down the stretch in both games we had some nice (momentum) swings because we sealed play at the net."
The final point for North in both games was a result of East attempts sailing wide or long due to North Star blocking.
Game 2 began with the hosts jumping out to a 6-1 lead before the Saints called a timeout. North owned a 7-3 advantage when East followed a North Star service error five straight points before a Saint service error leveled things at 8-all. However, Game 2 would have only 11 deadlocks and 4 lead changes. Down 12-11, North got back on top and despite six more ties, never trailed.
"Being such a close battle, the match could have gone either way, but because it's early in the season, we made some costly mistakes," McCullagh acknowledged. "As much as it hurts and is frustrating, I'm very optimistic and overall excited. (North) played well as did we, but a couple things we worked on didn't come through.
"At the same time, whenever we were down, we weren't out. Game 2 we called timeout, looked at each other and figured things out. We had a great run as a response."
Leading the charge for the Saints most often was standout Michael Carbonell, who had a match-high 16 kills with teammates Nick Cayton and Domenic Sciortino following with 10 and 8, respectively. Jake Lauger tallied 3 ace serves and 33 assists while Chris Forestel contributed 28 digs defensively.
"We had a balanced offensive attack which is why it's hard for opponents to decide who to defend," Weimer said in regard to the North Stars' statistics. Drew Lanz and Kolodziej had 4 kills while Donlevy, Tom Koppang and Hamilton all added 3. Sean O'Leary earned a season-high 12 digs while Danny Throop had 10 assists in guiding North.
"East-North matches are all about emotions so it's critical to stay composed, especially for me as a setter," Throop noted. "East has a solid team, good seniors and you can expect their seniors to keep it close, so we had to stay focused.
"I believe we're extremely underrated and judged by most people on our size," Throop admitted. "But even if we're small and young, we compensate for that with our strengths, which I believe are communication and game flow; our transition from defense to offense is smooth."
In the same context of not revealing details from the team meeting, Hamilton knew the North Stars "continued our streak" over East but wouldn't speculate on its length. Weimer and his assistants had to don their own uniforms for an "Athletes versus Staff" Relay For Life volleyball fundraiser which meant there was no time to check past files.
"It's maybe four or five in a row, but it won't guarantee anything for the next time we play," Weimer added.