St. Charles North rallies past Bartlett to win regional crown

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ST. CHARLES -- Host St. Charles North overcame a slow start in Saturday's Class 4A regional championship match against fifth-seeded Bartlett and rallied to defeat the Hawks 17-25, 25-20, 25-20.

The fourth-seeded North Stars committed 11 unforced errors in the opening set, but regrouped in time to capture their fifth regional title in six years.

"We came out very hestitant and made way too many mistakes early on," said North coach Lindsey Hawkins. "We knew if we just started executing and getting back that attitude of making every point count that we had a chance to come back and that's what we did. I'm really proud of the way the girls were able to pull it together."

The North Stars (25-11) had their backs against the wall after dropping the first set and falling behind 10-7 early in the second set. But junior Katie Fuerst and senior Karlie Giesler helped turn things around for North. Fuerst delivered a pair of aces during a 4-0 service run that gave North an 11-10 lead.

"That really lit a fire for us," said Hawkins. "The bench came to life and you could just feel the electricity building on the floor."

Moments later, Giesler started a 6-0 run with a kill and then followed with five service points as North pulled away to a 19-13 lead.

"We just got a lot more focused," said Giesler. "We stopped letting the mistakes pile up on top of one another."

North led from start to finish in the third set, but Bartlett (23-12) never trailed by more than five points. The North Stars were clinging to a 21-20 lead when Fuerst helped put it away with with back-to-back cross-court kills. Giesler followed with a kill and the Hawks then hit into the net to end the match and start the celebration for the North Stars.

Giesler led the North Stars with eight kills. Jillian Stolzenburg added seven kills and Fuerst finished with six. Olivia Schneider had 18 assists.

Bartlett senior Carly Sahagian had 21 kills. Jacki Gulczynski added 11.

"We played great that first game," said Bartlett coach Brandon Mueller. "But then we lost our focus and just let it slip away from us. Once you lose the momentum in volleyball it's tough to get it back."