Sports
Saints Volleyball Team Searches for Answers
St. Charles East's volleyball team follows up disappointing tourney finish with loss to Batavia.
It was a match that left Jennie Kull, St. Charles East girls volleyball coach, scratching her head and searching for answers.
On the heels of a disappointing 2‑3 finish at last weekend's Prairie Ridge Tournament, the Saints (12‑5, 1‑1) suffered their fourth loss in six matches during Tuesday's 25‑23, 25‑21 setback at the hands of host Batavia (11‑1, 2‑0).
"There's no way that we should have played like that," Kull said. "It wasn't fair to Batavia. They came to have a great match and we didn't play well. I feel bad about that."
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"But for them (the Bulldogs), that was a great win," Kull added. "They played well, they were aggressive and they did what they needed to do."
What the Bulldogs did was rely on strong serving, balanced hitting and tenacious defense—while capitalizing on numerous St. Charles East errors.
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In the first game, Batavia took the lead for good at 8‑7 on one of seven Saints' service errors for the match.
While St. Charles East kept things tight, cutting a 17‑12 deficit to 24‑23 on a Batavia hitting miscue, the last of five service errors in the game sealed the decision for the Bulldogs.
In the second game, Kull changed her lineup, inserting 5-foot-4 junior Sarah Dugan for defensive purposes.
A tough-angle kill from junior outside hitter Meghan Niski (10 kills) gave the Saints what turned out to be their last lead of the night at 13‑12.
Batavia tied it at 13‑13 on a kill from middle hitter Kristen Koncelik before back‑to‑back blocks from Koncelik and Blaire Theuerkauf gave the Bulldogs the lead for good. St. Charles East never got within three points the rest of the way.
"The weekend wasn't good for us and I don't know if that affected how we felt but we have to learn from this," Kull said. "And we have to start learning sooner than later.
"We had one of the greatest practices we've had yesterday," the coach added.
Sam Szarmach led the Saints with 12 kills, while Nichole Lambert added 8 kills.
"We're capable of so much more than we've shown," Kull said. "We've got to find out what it is and we've got to make it happen."
