North Wins Saxon Invite in Straight Sets

First Place, Schaumburg Saxon Invite

The St. Charles North Girls Volleyball team went 5-0 this weekend at the Schaumburg Saxon Invite, winning all 5 matches in straight sets and improving their record 23-5.

The North Stars began the day facing off with St. Viator, East Peoria, and Hononegah in pool play. They finished the day squaring off with Larkin again in the semi-finals, and Cary Grove in the championship.

Sisters Taylor and Daley Krage led the North Stars in kills, Taylor earning 69 kills for the day, while Daley tallied 39. Jaclyn Taylor and Claire Anderson each added 16 kills on the right side, while Sophia Duvall and Emily Carroll each had 14 kills out of the middle.

The North Stars served especially well this weekend, serving up 39 aces. The defense also played great, as Jaclyn Taylor had 7 blocks, Claire Anderson had 6, Sophia DuVall had 8, and Emily Carroll had 8. Sam Lappin had 34 digs, Alex Seavey had 29 digs, Megan Russell had 15, Taylor Krage had 19, Daley Krage had 13, Claire Anderson had 13, and Sydney Wohlert had 20.

Taryn DalDegan and Sydney Wohlert dished out the offense, Taryn earning 35 assists for the weekend, and Sydney earning 65.

The North Stars play next weekend at the Minooka Tournament.

Senior Night Win Over Larkin

Emotions were plentiful during Tuesday's Senior Night festivities prior to St. Charles North's girls volleyball match against Larkin.

But the North Stars (17-5, 4-1) were able to keep their wits when it mattered most during a 25-21, 25-21 Upstate Eight Conference River Division triumph over the visiting Royals (14-12, 2-3).

In the second game, St. Charles North jumped out to leads of 8-3, 14-7 and 16-9 before the Royals mounted another comeback.In Game 1, the Royals trimmed a 21-16 deficit to a single point at 21-20 before a timely back-row kill from senior outside hitter Taylor Krage (team-high 6 kills, 8 digs) gave the momentum back to the North Stars.

Led by seniors Olivia Kofie (match-high 12 kills) and Brianna Stewart (7 kills, 4 blocks), Larkin scored 6 consecutive points to draw within 16-15.

Moments later, an ace from Kofie pulled the Royals within a point at 18-17. Each time, Krage answered with powerful kills to help the North Stars maintain their slim lead.

After Sofie's back-row kill cut St. Charles North's lead to 22-21, the North Stars finally slammed the door on the Royals with a kill from sophomore Daley Krage.

"She is our go-to player (Taylor Krage) but it's a credit to the other girls on the team because they are such offensive weapons that they allow her to be that go-to person," said North Stars coach Lindsey Hawkins.

Senior middle blocker Sophia DuVall collected 5 kills for the North Stars, while senior Corrinne Sullivan and sophomore Claire Anderson each had 4 kills.

"You never know what we're going to run because we have so many weapons," said Hawkins. "We look down the bench and any one of those girls is ready to go at any time and is a real viable threat for us. That's a nice 'problem' to have. I love that — it just makes my job easier."

With the win, the North Stars inched closer to clinching at least a share of the conference title.

But this night was reserved for St. Charles North's 8 seniors — Alex Seavey (12 digs), Sydney Wohlert (11 assists), Camille Kott, Alex Woytich, Shea Miller, Taylor Krage, DuVall and Sullivan.

"There were a lot of emotions, especially before the game," said Taylor Krage. "We had our speeches and a lot of them got emotional but we wanted to cut the emotions off as soon as warm-ups started."

The Northern Illinois University-bound Krage also had to fight through the emotions of facing Larkin's Kofie and Stewart — teammates on Club Fusion's U17 national championship squad this past summer.

"It's fun to go up against them because I haven't seen them in a while," said Krage. "You know each other's little quirks and what shots they might hit."

The narrow defeat served as a bitter reminder for Larkin coach Henry Graack.

"That's kind of been how our season has been going," said Graack. "We're 14-12 now and the losses have been close ones. We just can't get those last couple points."

Playing in a conference with Batavia, Geneva and the two St. Charles schools can get frustrating but Graack quickly turned it into a positive for his team.

"I think we've got one of the toughest conferences in the state just because we're all fairly level," said Graack. "It's tough but it will get us ready for regionals."

October 14, 2013   Girl's Volleyball Top 20

1. St. Francis (29-3) Maddie Haggerty out for the season

2. Glenbard West (25-2) Autumnfest this weekend

3. Benet (23-3) No. 1 seed at Plainfield South sectional

4. Crystal Lake South (25-2) Clinched second straight FVC Valley title

5. St. Charles North (23-5) Takes title at Saxon Invite

6. St. Charles East (21-5) Third at Mizuno Cup

7. Naperville North (23-3) Fifth at Mizuno Cup

8. Lake Zurich (21-2) Bears clinch NSC Lake championship

9. Waubonsie Valley (22-4) No. 4 seed at Plainfield South

10. Hersey (13-9) 1 win from MSL East crown

11. Carmel (23-3) Corsairs outlast St. Viator in 3 sets

12. Metea Valley (16-5) No. 6 seed at Plainfield South

13. Montini (25-3) Took fifth at Huntley

14. Geneva (20-7) 4th-place finish at Mizuno

15. Stevenson (21-6) Pats got 4-1 at Glenbrook/New Trier Invite

16. Glenbard South (25-6) No 1 seed despite moving up to 4A

17. Huntley (17-10) Nearly handed Boylan 1st loss

18. Fremd (16-10) C. Roberts, Stegich all-tourney at GBN

19. Barrington (12-10) Controls own destiny in MSL West

20. Cary-Grove (17-15) Win at Huntley a turning point?