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St. Charles East sweeps St. Charles North

Nina Scoliere appears to have taken her game a step or two forward since St. Charles East's sectional semifinal appearance last season.

Whether it's her confidence, court savviness or being a more vocal leader, her coaches see it, too, from the Saints' senior setter.

"She's motivated. She's a leader. She's confident," St. Charles East coach Jennie Kull said following the Saints' 25-18, 25-22 sweep of St. Charles North on Monday. "It is night and day [compared to the 2019 season]. We see it, too.

"She took time off from playing club and I think she's enjoying it," Kull continued. "That's what they should be doing, [enjoying the game]. I'm real proud of her. I think she's leading very well and doing a nice job."

Scoliere's decision to stop playing club was to focus more energy on her senior year. It also helped orient herself to prepare for whatever her final season would bring.

"I was happy we were able to have a [IHSA] season here," said Scoliere, who had three kills and two aces Monday. "Quarantine allowed me to start working out more, focus on myself and my well-being.

" I think the rest of the team has done the same. And, not playing club has allowed me to be at all the open gyms and never miss anything, so I feel like I've been really involved in the program this year. Whereas, sometimes it's been a little [hard to juggle]. I think everyone's been really committed, so I think that's what is allowing us to succeed."

The Saints (4-1, 3-1) took a 20-16 lead in the first set and for the most part sailed through the rest of the set after three North Stars attack errors were sandwiched by kills from Isabella Mosquera and Scoliere.

The teams played to seven ties in the second set, the last at 22-22, but two more North Stars attack errors and a kill by Saints sophomore outside hitter Alexis Crossen finished off the match.

"I would say we trust each other, but in those [final moments], I think we kind of freaked out a little bit," said North Stars senior Allie Warburton, who had five kills and an ace. "We weren't holding that same confident energy that we had throughout the whole game. We need to start continuing working like a team and just know we're going to put the ball down and we're going to be consistent with it."

The North Stars (3-3, 2-3) are still finding their consistency for prolonged stretches in matches.

"When we do have those successful moments, you really see how good of a team we are," Warburton said. "When we keep making those stupid errors, it kind of makes us look like we're not as good, but I know we have so much potential to keep being such a good team and consistently, especially behind the serving line, because that's where we really struggled."

Crossen made her varsity debut for the Saints and had five kills.

"This was her first game. She played JV," Kull said. "One of our outside hitters is on spring break ... she did really well. We know she can [step up]."

Crossen's setter agrees.

"I think she's probably one of the most confident players I've seen. She has a little swag to her," Scoliere said. "She just doesn't care if she gets blocked, she'll keep swinging and I think that really helps us out."

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