SUPER HUNTER

By DENNIS JACOBS – editorial@kcchronicle.com

East volleyball digs deep hole

By DENNIS JACOBS – editorial@kcchronicle.com

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ST. CHARLES – “Let’s go Saints. Wake up!”

That plea from a fan in the St. Charles East High School gym early in Monday night’s boys volleyball match between the Saints and Wheaton North went unheeded until late in the second game. As a result, the Falcons swept East, 25-11, 25-21.

“We just didn’t come out energetic, like we normally do,” said East senior Eric Coleman. “We started to pick it up at the end. There were a couple plays that we thought should have gone our way, but the credit goes to [Wheaton North]. They played a good game and they were able to stop our comeback.”

Trailing 19-10 in the second game, the Saints rallied for six straight points behind the serving of senior Sean Kelly. He recorded a pair of aces during the stretch and the Falcons were also called for a pair of lifts trying to return his serves.

Wheaton North senior Luke Nelson finally broke the string with a kill, but Coleman responded with his fifth and sixth kills of the match to pull East within 20-18. After that, the Falcons benefited from a questionable line call and an arguable net violation to help them finish out the match.

“I think we played frazzled,” said acting East coach Kate McCullagh, filling in for Stephanie Gooden. “Some of our basic skills were a little rocky. We had a hard time passing some balls.”

The Saints also had a hard time with lanky Wheaton North junior Hunter Thorson, who registered eight kills in the match. McCullagh said she tried to make some adjustments to slow Thorson down.

“We moved our defense around a little bit,” she explained. “They just went on some runs and we had a hard time catching up. I think we got better as the match went along.”

East fell behind 6-0 in the opening game thanks to a series of errors, played even with the Falcons for the next 12 points, then watched Thorson slam home three kills during another six-point spree by Wheaton North.

“Hunter Thorson did a great job tonight,” said Wheaton North coach Ryan Baker. “He’s been stepping it up each match of the season so far.”

St. Charles East will try to regroup by Thursday, when it hosts Neuqua Valley in an Upstate 8 Conference match. Coleman said the Saints need to work on their communication if they hope to have a better result.

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