St. Charles E., Batavia battle for title
Among the similarities between Batavia and St. Charles East when the teams take the court Thursday night in the Class 4A Glenbard East championship game are three seniors who have been a fixture playing varsity volleyball the last four years.
While St. Charles East has Meghan Niski and Maisey Mulvey who have been around since their 2008 state championship team, Batavia also has a four-year starter in Mary Nilles.
Nilles certainly has had her share of battles with the Saints, usually an uphill fight but a series that does include the Bulldogs’ win in 2010 that spurred them onto the Upstate Eight Conference River Division championship.
As it turns out she’s known Niski a lot longer than these four years playing varsity volleyball. It dates all the way back to days they were still playing other sports.
“I played with Meghan in soccer, in fifth, sixth grade,” Nilles said. “She’s a great kid and a great player.
“They are all great girls but we are going to go out and set our own tempo and play our own game and have fun out there.”
Nilles and Batavia come into the game as the underdog having lost 25-15, 25-16 to St. Charles East in the regular season. The Bulldogs are 23-13 and seeded seventh; the Saints are 30-6 and No. 2.
Not that Batavia coach Lori Trippi-Payne minds a test like this.
“We’ll take on that challenge,” Trippi-Payne said. “St. Charles East is a fantastic team. It will take a tremendous effort by our team to challenge them but I think we are capable of that.”
Sophomore Heather Meyer shook off a nagging shoulder injury to lead Batavia with 12 kills in Tuesday’s semifinal win over Schaumburg and said it’s been a pretty smooth transition to varsity volleyball playing with older teammates.
“It’s going really well,” Meyer said. “They are very accepting. We connect really well. They are great as older players.”
“She’s been a trooper this entire season,” Nilles said. “She’s fighting through it and I’m so proud of her.”
Kristen Koncelik had 7 blocks and 9 kills Tuesday and is set for a matchup in the middle Thursday against one of the Saints’ best players, Nichole Lambert. Both teams also have excellent liberos with Mulvey for the Saints and Batavia’s Stephanie Kinane.
Saints coach Jennie Kull got a good look at Batavia Tuesday night and said they have improved from when she saw them earlier this season.
“Our main focus is to worry what we are doing,” Kull said. “At this point of the season it is about what we are doing and making sure we are taking care of business on our side.
“I think Batavia is a well-coached team, very strong players, we are going to have to play very well. Batavia came out and pulled away (in Game 3 Tuesday). We just have to be prepared. They have come a long way since we played them before.”
While the Saints avenged that 2010 loss to Batavia earlier this year, it’s a defeat that St. Charles East has not forgotten.
“Last year we learned from them we can never let our guard down and to respect every team and bring our best every time,” Lambert said. “We’re still feeling that. It’s definitely still on our minds because we know we can do better. We are pumped for Thursday.”