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St. Charles North won’t let big win go to its heads

We’re bringing a little bit of everything while waiting for Week 4 of the high school football season to arrive Friday night ...

Super scene: It’s always interesting to see what unfolds when St. Charles East and St. Charles North’s volleyball teams square off, and Tuesday certainly was no exception.

For the first time in nine tries, St. Charles North was able to come out on top, 25-17, 23-25, 25-22.

North Stars senior Taylor Krage led all players with 18 kills but downplayed the significance of the win afterward. Maybe it’s a sign that the North Stars, who improved to 11-0 heading into Wednesday’s games, have bigger goals on their mind.

“East game always means a little more but it’s not the state championship,” Krage said. “Just another game. It’s a great game to win but it’s just another game.”

North Stars coach Lindsey Hawkins had a similar take. She didn’t seem as interested in talking about getting her first win over the Saints as seeing the continued consistent play by her team taking care of what happens on their side of the net.

“Our team has been working on their resiliency and I think that helps in matches like this because we are not going to give up,” said the fifth-year coach.

Gracious in defeat: Saints coach Jennie Kull had kind words for Hawkins afterward.

Hawkins played on Kull’s 2001 state championship team at St. Charles.

“I’m proud of what she’s doing. You love to win but when they aren’t playing us I’m rooting for them,” Kull said of the North Stars.

“I’m glad she has put the program together like she has. She’s a wonderful person. If they are going to beat us I’m glad it is a former Saint who did it.”

Congratulations in order: To a pair of Geneva grads, Kirsten Searcy and Lauren Wicinski.

Searcy decided to attend Oklahoma State on an academic scholarship this year after completing a stellar four-year softball career for the Vikings last spring.

Searcy broke or tied nine Geneva hitting records, put herself in the top three in nine more, and set the fielding percentage standard for Geneva third baseman (91 percent).

Among Searcy’s other records are doubles in a game (3), RBI in a game (8), and season marks for RBI (48), doubles (19) and extra-base hits (24).

Searcy is second all-time in hits (153) and batting average (.357) while ranking first in Geneva history in RBI (135) and total bases (230).

Wicinski, a senior at Michigan State, was just named the Big Ten Player of the Week for the second time in her career.

Wicinski won Tournament MVP at the Butler Invitational, helping her team to a trio of 3-0 sweeps. She recorded 45 kills on the weekend, leading the team in kills in each set.

Wicinski’s 45 kills pushed her career total to 1,990. She is looking to become just the third athlete at Michigan State and the ninth in the Big Ten to amass 2,000 kills, a mark she’ll go for Friday against Eastern Michigan.

More congrats: Geneva’s tennis team handed Batavia its first conference loss since 2008 with a narrow win Tuesday.

The Vikings swept all three singles matches and pulled out the longest match of the day at second doubles, a 3-setter for their lone doubles win and a 4-3 victory.

Geneva’s top two singles players, Kirby Einck and Grace Krueger, won their matches by a combined 24-1 score.

Looking ahead: Kaneland holds the No. 3 ranking in the state’s Class 5A football poll behind only Montini and Joliet Catholic, and Aurora Christian shares the No. 1 spot in Class 3A with Tolono Unity.

Look for those two powers to keep rolling this weekend — the combined record of opponents Streator and Wheaton Academy is 1-5. That’s actually a theme for the weekend with several matchups that could turn into lopsided contests pretty quickly.

Your best bet to see a close game? Keep an eye on how Marmion and St. Charles East do in road contests Friday. The Cadets meet Marian with both teams at 3-0, and the Saints put their 3-0 record on the line at 2-1 Neuqua Valley.

Follow John Lemon on Twitter @jlemonDH

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