Boys volleyball: St. Charles North sweeps St. Francis

St. Francis was eying a third set.

But the members of the St. Charles North boys volleyball team failed to mind their manners at the dinner table.

"I would say our focus and concentration at the end of the second set was tippy-top," St. Charles North senior leader Brandan Del Degan said.

Del Degan had the last of his match-high 9 kills to put the North Stars a point from victory, and the schools' nonconference match came to an end on St. Francis' technical violation on the ensuing point.

The North Stars avoided a rubber game with their 25-17 and 25-21 straight-sets victory Monday evening in St. Charles.

St. Charles North (9-6) captured 5 of the final 6 points in turning back the Spartans (6-9).

Del Degan, who led both teams with 9 kills, gave St. Charles North a 23-20 lead in the second set with his penultimate kill.

St. Charles North had taken the second-game lead for good 21-20 on a kill from Pepperdine-bound senior Tommy Koppang.

St. Francis had a critical hitting error on the following point.

"We couldn't put the ball down (when it counted)," St. Francis' Bryce Walker said.

"I really think we out-hustled them," Koppang said.

The teams' first set had similar overtones to the climatic second game.

Neither team led by more than 2 points of the first 22 points scored.

But another St. Francis hitting mistake broke the trend.

The North Stars' resulting 13-10 lead was soon stretched to a 6-point cushion as Ben Woytych had a block for a 19-13 spread.

St. Francis would never come closer than 4 points, 16-20, the remainder of the first set as David Beach had the game-clinching first-set point with a kill.

The Spartans had a hitting error or net violation on North Star points Nos. 22, 23 and 24.

St. Francis coach Mike Lynch was not overly alarmed.

"As a coach, you like those aggressive mistakes," Lynch said. "Not tentative."

The North Stars had another wild card to play.

"Our serve-receive was really good the entire match," Del Degan said.

There were a dozen second-set deadlocks until Yakes' block gave St. Charles North a 17-16 lead.

St. Francis' KJ Glab had one of his team-high 5 kills to bring the Spartans to within 20-19 moments later.

The final tie of the night, courtesy of a St. Charles North hit out of bounds, was resolved when the Koppang kill ushered the North Stars' match-clinching 5-1 run.

Kevin Schuele had 15 assists for match honors for St. Francis; the North Stars' Max DeDobbelaere held the same distinction with his 14 digs.