Saints, Red Raiders eye sectional titles
When St. Charles East takes the court tonight in the title match of the Geneva Class 4A Sectional, it will be looking for its third straight trip to the Elite 8.
Meanwhile, York, its opponent, might have revenge on its mind. Just last year, the Saints (31-6) beat the Dukes 25-21, 25-19 in the title match of York's own sectional.
(Andrew A. Nelles/For Sun-Times Media)
This time, No. 3 seed York (28-8) is coming into the match full steam ahead after upsetting host and No. 2 seed Geneva 19-25, 25-16, 25-16 in Tuesday's semifinals.
"I don't know if it matters that we knocked them out last year. You'd be crazy not to be up for this match," said East coach Jennie Kull. "They played really well in beating Geneva. They're a good serving team with good ball control and are well-rounded."
Led by outside hitter Lauren Zerante, a Bradley recruit, York finished third in the West Suburban Conference Silver Division before beating West Chicago to claim the Glenbard North Regional. York hasn't won a sectional title since 1993.
East has lived up to its billing as the No. 1 seed despite dealing with a rash of injuries. After hurting her ankle last week, senior hitter/setter Jacqui Seidel returned to the starting lineup Tuesday night in a semifinal win over St. Charles North. However, fellow senior and outside hitter Caroline Niski is dealing with an ankle injury herself and didn't enter the contest until late in the match.
"(Seidel) is back as far as being able to play," Kull said. "We're excited with how she played and Caroline is able to do some things for us, but it's day-to-day. You don't know until you get into the gym and see what you have."
Sam Szarmach has been a more than capable replacement in the starting lineup since Niski's injury three weeks ago and ended with six kills against North.
"I feel we're finally getting comfortable with each other and we know what it takes to win as a team," said Seidel, who was a big part of last year's state championship team. "We're ready for another great match."
The winner advances to Saturday's St. Charles East Super-Sectional to play the winner of the Huntley Sectional, which pits the host Red Raiders against Cary-Grove.
C-G (34-4) went 10-0 to claim the Fox Valley Conference Valley Division and is ranked 10th in the most recent Sun-Times rankings. The Trojans easily beat South Elgin in the semifinals and is looking for its first sectional title since 2001. The Red Raiders dispatched Boylan in straight sets to advance and is also looking for its first sectional title since 2001.
Huntley (29-9), which lost in the sectional finals last season, finished third in the FVC Valley at 6-4. Two of those losses were to C-G, the first of which was a 25-18, 25-22 home defeat on Sept. 15 and the second a 25-8, 25-21 road loss on Oct. 6.
"We'd love to play Cary again and now we get that opportunity, and you know what, anything can happen out there," said Huntley coach Michelle Jakubowski, who is hoping her team can feed off the home crowd the same way it did on Tuesday. "They're a great team with a lot of weapons, but we're gonna come out here and give them everything we have."
Sophomore starters Samantha Boesch, Amy Dion, Jaina Jackson and Ashley Smith are among those on Huntley who don't fall victim to the nerves and intensity of the postseason because success is all they've been exposed to so far.
"They want to continue to play at home," Jakubowski said. "Last year they made the Sweet 16 and these freshmen, now sophomores, just don't know any different. It's just where they want to be. They've worked really, really hard."
-- Andy Rohr contributed
