Big crowd helps spur St. Edward to victory
Teams usually enter opening night of a new girls volleyball season with more questions than answers.
How will the chemistry between new teammates play out? Does each player know her responsibilities? Will they all remember to bring their uniforms?
They are questions that breed butterflies in the stomachs of players and coaches.
Add to that natural tension a bandbox gymnasium like St. Edward's, an old barn made of brick and concrete in which every voice seems multiplied by three and the butterflies can overwhelm.
Before a large, loud student section in Elgin Monday night, the girls from St. Edward started getting some answers at the expense of visiting Suburban Catholic Conference foe Aurora Central Catholic, which has more questions to pose after the Green Wave swept to a 25-17, 25-13 victory.
"I thought we played really well together," said St. Edward junior Katie Yohn. "We all stepped it up when we needed to, so it was fun."
Yohn looked like she was having fun. The junior co-captain finished with a match-high 9 kills. She was the most effective player on the court for either team, but she had plenty of support.
Contributing to the victory were co-captain and fellow junior Kristen Haggenjos (6 kills), hard-hitting senior Taylor Barone (2 kills), junior setter Stephanie Kunold (7 assists) and freshman libero Margie Haggenjos (6 digs).
Still, not everything went perfectly for the Wave.
"There were opening-night jitters with our serve-receive and they're just nervous as to where to go," fourth-year coach Jaime Walton said.
"We're still looking for the leadership on the court out of the setters, to step up and be the quarterback and say to the others, 'This is what we're doing; This is where you're going.'" Once we get that leadership and everybody knowing their jobs and what's going on, I think things will go pretty smoothly.
The Wave broke free from an 8-8 tie in Game 1 behind four straight service points from senior defensive specialist Laura Wilson. The Chargers later rallied to within 20-17 when the Wave made four straight hitting errors, but 5 more service points from Wilson closed out the game.
"Our blocking and our front row tonight was OK, but we definitely need to work on our serve/receive," said Chargers middle hitter Sarah Chandler.
Game 2 wasn't close. St. Edward jumped to a 10-3 lead behind a tip, a block and spike from Yohn and back-to-back aces from Kristen Haggenjos and never looked back.
"I thought we would do a little bit better based on last season and the personnel we have coming back this year,' Aurora Central coach Randy Hewitt said. "I thought we were a little tight."
Hoffman Estates d. Larkin: Larkin was defeated in two ganes 25-21, 25-14 in a nonconference season opener. Jessica Harris led the Royals with who had 8 kills and 1 block. Liza Smithberger also contributed with 12 assists. Ashley Gazda, Ashley Somphonhphakdy, Bonnie Bielarz, and Emily Sothikhoun each had 2 kills apiece.