Sports
Camper Delivers in Crunch Time for St. Charles Saints
An injury to starting setter Erienne Barry fails to slow down St. Charles East's volleyball team during an emotional victory over STC North.
When opportunity knocked, St. Charles East's Stephanie Camper delivered.
Thrust into the all-important role of setter after sophomore starter Erienne Barry suffered a right knee injury midway through the opening game, Camper didn't let the Saints (16-4, 5-1) miss a beat as she recorded 18 assists and 4 service aces during the team's 28-26, 25-14 Upstate Eight Conference River Division volleyball victory over crosstown rival St. Charles North Tuesday night at St. Charles East.
Camper shook aside an early case of nerves with a pair of aces to help fuel her team's late comeback from a 22-17 deficit in Game 1.
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"I was really nervous in the beginning," admitted Camper. "I know that we've practiced and practiced all season (as the team's backup setter) but I didn't expect anything like this to happen, especially against (St. Charles) North."
Camper's performance didn't come as a shock to Saints coach Jennie Kull, who admired her team's intestinal fortitude.
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"Stephanie came in and did a phenomenal job," Kull said. "That's the thing with this program that we've always talked about. She sets a lot in practice—the kids trust her and she does a great job.
"Of course, I'm devastated with what happened to Erienne today," added Kull. "But I'm elated that Stephanie had this opportunity and did a phenomenal job as every single player on this team knew she would do. They had total confidence in her."
Camper added two more aces in the second game during a 5-point run that helped the Saints snap a 10-10 deadlock.
Her running serve may look a bit unconventional but it was extremely effective Tuesday night.
"I just try to stay as aggressive as I can," Camper said. "It's usually a really low-like float and it goes deep. It really helps practicing it a lot because that's what I do in practice most of the time is serve."
The Saints also received contributions from Sam Szarmach (7 kills, 6 digs, 2 blocks), Olivia Desormey (6 kills), Meghan Niski (6 kills), Kathleen Dailey (5 kills, 2 blocks), Nichole Lambert (4 kills) and Maisey Mulvey (12 digs).
"We always work on staying resilient and bouncing back no matter what's going on," Szarmach said.
Katie Fuerst (7 kills, 2 aces), Kim Juriga (4 kills, 3 blocks) and Jill Stolzenburg (2 kills) paced the North Stars (12-10, 3-2).
"We played well in the first game but the passing was a little off and our communication wasn't there in the second game," said St. Charles North coach Lindsey Hawkins.
