York stops North Stars in opener

There will be no sneaking up on opponents this season for York.

Ranked No. 1 in the Sun-Times’ preseason girls volleyball poll on the strength of five returning starters from a team that finished fourth in Class 4A in 2010, York is certain to get every team’s best effort every time it takes the court.

“We’re a team that likes to be under the radar,” York setter Katie Gallagher said. “But since we are in this position, we just have to work hard so that we can prove to everyone that we can be a great team.”

York showed flashes of that greatness in its 2011 opener against St. Charles North Tuesday in Elmhurst, although it had to overcome a 10-5 deficit in Game 2 to defeat the North Stars 25-13, 25-21.

Gallagher had 18 assists, junior Melissa Deatsch had six kills and four aces, and Sam Schrenker, Caroline Rose and Morgan Semmelhack (two aces) each had six kills to power the Dukes.

“I was happy with our performance,” York coach Patty Iverson said. “St. Charles North is always a solid team to open up with. They swing well, and as the match progressed they kept giving us better stuff.”

York took control early in Game 1. A Deatsch ace and a hitting error forced the first St. Charles North timeout at 10-4, and the 5-foot-11 junior cranked out her fourth ace of the set to force another timeout at 24-13.

But St. Charles North bounced back in Game 2, and Kim Juriga’s perfect serve that split two back-row defenders gave the visitors an early 10-5 lead.

“I think it was a mixture of relaxing in Game Two and maybe a little nervousness,” Gallagher said. “Everybody still had jitters, and we have some new girls we are working into the lineup. We need to work on our team chemistry.”

However, York answered with a 9-2 run to grab a 14-12 lead and never trailed again, although a kill by Juriga and an ace by Taylor Krage had the visitors within 23-21. But the North Stars would get no closer.

Rookie setter Emily Belz had 10 assists, Lauren Madziarczyk had four kills and Juriga added two kills, a block and two aces for St. Charles North.

“We made a ton of our own errors,” St. Charles North coach Lindsey Hawkins said. “Our mistakes let them creep back into that second game. We needed to stay a step ahead of them. We have to be a better serve-receive team.

“When we have good ball control, we can play with the best teams,” she added. “Ball control, ball control and serve receive. If we can do that, we can be a really competitive team.”

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