Stagg shows its swagger against Andrew

The early-season stumbles were less than graceful.

The Asics Challenge was more like a punishment.

But none of that matters right now. Stagg is in first place in the SouthWest Suburban Red.

“Yes we are. Undefeated,” junior Jill Conrad said with a proud smile after leading the Chargers to a 25-15, 25-12 romp over host Andrew on Tuesday.

Conrad had nine kills, nine service points and four aces, Alexa Janus 17 assists, Emily Frain 14 service points and Lexi Mantas four kills and three blocks as Stagg improved to 12-13, 2-0.

No. 9 Andrew (13-9, 2-1) was paced by Loyola-bound senior Maureen Carls (9 kills, 5 digs), Angela Robison (9 assists), Amy Jendra (10 digs, 3 kills) and Baylee Panfil (3 blocks).

Stagg has come a long way from a 2-9 start with a roster that has no seniors. The Chargers actually climbed over .500 on Sept. 29, only to run into a brick wall at the powerhouse-laden Asics Challenge over the weekend at Mother McAuley.

Still, they learned.

“A lot of it was, at least we came out to compete,” Conrad said. “In some of the games we could have come through and won, but we fell apart. But we did have some good streaks and a lot of good things happened throughout the weekend.

“Coming out 1-4 in a tournament like that, it’s not the best, but it’s also not the worst. Now that we’ve got that behind us, we have a lot to look forward to in conference. Hopefully we’ll come out on top.”

The Chargers used a couple of good streaks to put the Thunderbolts on ice fairly quickly.

In Game 1, it was still close at 13-11 when Conrad banged down a kill, earning the serve for Frain. Frain didn’t leave the line for six more points, two of which were provided via kills by Megan Hearne.

Frain was again at the line in Game 2 when Stagg turned a 4-3 edge into 9-3. Shortly thereafter, Conrad went back-to-back with ace serves, and the Chargers were on their way.

© 2012 Sun-Times Media, LLC. All rights reserved. This material may not be copied or distributed without permission. For more information about reprints and permissions, visit www.suntimesreprints.com. To order a reprint of this article, click here.