St. Edward shakes off rust to defeat Aurora Central
A few days off brought a little bit of rust to the St. Edward girls volleyball team.
It took some time Monday night to remove some of that rust, but the Green Wave knocked off enough to get past Aurora Central Catholic, 25-14, 25-16, in Suburban Catholic Conference play in Elgin.
"Coming off a busy weekend we were a little slow," St. Edward senior Kristen Haggenjos said. "Coach gave us the weekend off. We were just going through the motions."
St. Edward coach Jaime Walton did not have the Green Wave (9-10, 6-2) practice over the homecoming weekend. While it was in control for most of the match, St. Edward was not sharp.
Of the Chargers' 14 points in the frst game, 11 came off Green Wave errors, including 6 from the service line.
"There is no emotion," Walton said of playing a less-talented team right after homecoming. "It's hard for the girls to play."
In Game 2, St. Edward jumped out to an 11-6 lead after Katie Yohn smacked one of her team-leading 8 kills. But several more errors allowed ACC (10-12, 1-7) to tie the game at 13-13.
"I was thinking that maybe we can make Jaime call a timeout," Chargers coach Randy Hewitt said. "That would have been fun for the girls."
Haggenjos, who admitted they probably would not have had the weekend off if the Green Wave played a team such as St. Francis on Monday, pounded a kill from the left side as St. Edward regained the lead 14-13.
"It was definitely time to step up and stop fooling around," said Haggenjos, who finished with 7 kills, 5 digs and 2 blocks. "We looked at the scoreboard and losing the lead. We looked at each other and said, 'Let's step it up.'"
St. Edward scored 12 of the final 16 points, capped by a Margie Haggenjos ace, to win the match.
Natalie Steinwart led the Chargers with 3 kills.
Hampshire d. Marengo: Amy Wehrs (8 kills) and Kara Wehrs (6 kills, 13 assists, 10 digs) led the way for Hampshire in a 25-17, 25-7 Big Northern East victory. Chessa Osiecki had 12 digs for the Whip-Purs (17-1, 3-1).