St. Charles East win sets up rematch with St. Charles North
Having their backs against the wall seems to suit St. Charles East just fine.
That was the case earlier this season when the Saints lost the first game to St. Charles North but stormed back to beat the North Stars in three.
And it worked again Tuesday in the West Chicago regional semifinals with a 17-25, 25-20, 25-15 victory over fifth-seed South Elgin (17-19).
As a result, 12th-seed St. Charles East (19-17) gets a chance to repeat its earlier win over the North Stars in the regional championship at 7 p.m. Wednesday. St. Charles East has never won a regional title.
"We have a lot of respect for the other team," Saints captain Baxter Reed said of the Storm, who defeated the Saints in the regular season. "They played hard and it was a struggle. We were able to pull through."
South Elgin senior Andrew Gleason was unstoppable in Game 1, pounding down 7 of his match-high 12 kills. He had a kill to give the Storm their first lead at 6-5, an advantage they extended to 13-7 before a Saints timeout.
St. Charles East whittled the lead to 15-14 on Reed's kill but never caught up. Sean Saxton's ace ended the game.
"Game 1 there was good communication, intensity, all of that," Storm coach Adam Plach said.
St. Charles East stressed defense in its talk between games and it paid off in Game 2. Taylor Flahaven's 3 early kills helped build a 9-3 Saints lead.
The Storm didn't go quietly, closing within 15-14 on the third straight Saints hitting error. A tip kill by Reed ended the drought and seemed to settle the Saints down. They steadily built their lead back up and closed the game on Flahaven's kill.
"I think it was a combination of control your jitters and focus on defense," St. Charles East coach Kate McCullagh said. "Sometimes we go for the big kill and forget about passing the ball. Sometimes we tend to get in a hole and freak out but I think they were more composed in the second and third games."
Reed finished with 10 kills and 7 digs, Flahaven also had 10 kills, Brandon Cermak set 17 assists and Mike Kurtz led with 9 digs.
"It's going to be defense," Reed said of the key to playing St. Charles North. "They have a lot of great attackers. Their setter is great. They run a pretty tight ship over there. We're going to have to shape up to keep up."
The Saints kept the momentum going in Game 3, trailing only once at 2-1. Eleven hitting errors dug a hole for the Storm. A thunderous kill by Reed ended the match.
"The hitting errors topped off some of the things that happened," Plach said. "We really got taken out of system a lot. Some of it is just bad swings, some of it is a tough swing to try to even make."
Gleason (12 kills, 7 digs), Ryan Vanbogaert (8 kills, 7 digs), Zach Marsh (7 digs), Saxton (8 kills) and John Kuzelka (25 assists) led the Storm.
"These kids had a great year," Plach said. "It is the most successful year we have had at the school. This group of seniors is phenomenal. They have really helped set the standard of what playing volleyball at South Elgin is going to be about."