St Charles East rolls to regional crown

Updated: October 27, 2011 9:38PM

After the St. Charles East volleyball team beat Batavia for the Glenbard East Class 4A Regional title, Saints coach Jennie Kull didn’t know exactly how many regional titles this was for the program.

All Kull knew at the moment was that she was glad the Saints won one this year. They topped the Bulldogs 25-14, 25-15 Thursday night in Lombard for their sixth consecutive regional title.

The win not only pushed the Saints to a 31-6 overall record but it allows them to play on their home court against rival St. Charles North in the sectional semifinals Tuesday. The North Stars advanced after beating Glenbard West in three games for the Bartlett Regional crown.

“This was a big one,” Kull said. “When you are going back to your house to play, you want to make sure you won this one. You don’t want to be hosting for someone else. We had a great practice yesterday, and they came out today and it continued. It feels good. They are really playing well right now. They are committed and they did a nice job.”

“We have eight seniors on the team, and none of us want this to end,” St. Charles East senior Meghan Niski added. “We want to keep playing for as long as possible.”

In Game 1, St. Charles East led the entire way. The Saints were able to score four consecutive points three separate times, including the final run. Kills from Kathleen Dailey and Niski ended the game.

Batavia led early in Game 2, but St. Charles East snapped an 8-8 tie in the middle of a five-point rally. From there, the Saints never trailed again, and the match ended on one of Nichole Lambert’s six kills. Nicole Woods added five kills and Niski led all players with 10 kills to go with her six digs.

“Every kid stepped up tonight and did what they needed to do,” Kull said. “It was a total team effort, and that’s what we’ve been working on. This is the team I know, this is the team I am glad is here now.”

“We played them hard and gave them what we had,” Batavia coach Lori Trippi-Payne said. “(St. Charles East) served tough. They play good defense...we went after them. We tried to do what we needed to do. Give them a lot of credit. They didn’t make many errors tonight. They brought their best game.”

Batavia, which was led by Kristen Koncelik (6 kills, 2 blocks), Heather Meyer (5 kills), Mary Nilles (15 assists) and Stephanie Kinane (12 digs) closes the season at 23-14 overall.

“We had a tremendous season,” Trippi-Payne said. “(A record of) 23-14 isn’t bad. Batavia doesn’t get a lot of 23-win seasons. We had a heck of a good season with some great senior leadership.”

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