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ST. CHARLES – Maisey Mulvey and Meghan Niski spoke in their coach’s classroom three Novembers ago without a clue about the volleyball postseason.
They were St. Charles East freshmen, season-long starters on an eventual Class 4A state championship team who would have flunked a quiz on IHSA 101.
“We had no idea what regionals was. What’s a supersectional? What’s the difference between a sectional title and a supersectional title?” said Mulvey, the Saints’ libero. “And now everything makes sense, you know. It was playing for fun, that’s really what it was freshman year.”
Mulvey and Niski haven’t exactly turned stone-faced as they prepare to return to the state tournament this weekend, though their quest has taken on superstition. Three Novembers ago, just before the team traveled to Illinois State University’s Redbird Arena in Normal, players convened in coach Jennie Kull’s room to assess their season. This week, Mulvey and Niski walked back through the door as seniors. Their search for symmetry raged on.
Mulvey and Niski first met as kindergarten classmates at St. Patrick School in St. Charles, with symmetry taking a backseat to arithmetic. They first shared a volleyball court as St. Pat’s fifth-graders, when both players were setters, and have been teammates ever since, only missing time when they played on different levels at Marengo-based Club Fusion.
These days, it’s Mulvey starting the three-hit process with her passes and digs, while Niski, a fellow captain along with Stephanie Camper, fires away as a top outside hitter. Even when they don’t collaborate on points – which hasn’t been often in a 33-6 season – Mulvey and Niski still cultivate a connection.
“We talk to each other about everything,” Niski said. “Volleyball, our lives and stuff. We’ve been on the same club team a couple of times, too, and it’s been fun to play with her all year round. We just love playing with each other, so it’s going to be weird after these two games.”
East has won 130 matches since Mulvey and Niski joined the program in 2008, advancing to at least the sectional final – that's the fourth round of the postseason, as they now know – each time.
Both players' impact resonated each fall, and it's been no different during their senior seasons.
Niski boasts 47 kills in the team’s past three matches – all of which went the full three games – and enters the state tournament with a team-best 399. Mulvey continues to collect digs (277) and aces (36) while another figure, Jan. 13, fights to stay in the back of her mind.
Mulvey is set to graduate high school early but is not certain whether she’ll enroll in college during the winter or fall of 2012. For now, there’s enough to ponder as high school volleyball ends, and neither she nor the James Madison-bound Niski plan to lose focus.
Both took an increased vocal role from the start of preseason, staying friendly and goofy with the rest of the Saints but also knowing when to buckle down.
“They expect to be the best that they can be, and I think that shows in the four years that they’ve been on varsity,” Kull said. “The milestones that we’ve met, all the great things that have happened through these four years have been through their leadership and their drive to be the best that they can be. I always say this, but I truly feel like I’m blessed because I have had them for four years. It’s a bittersweet weekend, because no matter what, this is it for us. This is it with me and those two.”
Naturally, the biggest highlight of their first year together came when East upset nationally ranked Benet for the state title. The Saints face the Redwings, who feature the younger sisters of three players from the 2008 runners-up, in a state semifinal at 7:30 p.m. Friday.
Benet already boasts three 2011 victories against East and brings an 18-match winning streak into the weekend. The Saints counter with confidence from navigating a wild postseason that has gathered booming fan support along the way.
Two weeks ago, Kull promoted freshman middle hitters Lexus Finn and Mikaela Mosquera and sophomore setter Carly Jimenez from the 22-1 JV team. While those players’ pasts don’t quite overlap like those of Mulvey and Niski, they at least make the Saints’ duo smile.
“Our team, we have those new young’uns, those freshmen and that sophomore who just kind of bring back the memories that I had freshman year,” Mulvey said. “‘So what do we do? We play Friday night and Saturday night?’ It’s nice to have those people to be able to go, ‘You know, I was just like you. It seemed just like yesterday.’ ”
It was actually three Novembers ago.
Three Novembers and one state crown.
CLASS 4A STATE TOURNAMENT
Friday's semifinals
Benet (37-3) vs. St. Charles East (34-6), 7:30 p.m. *
Cary-Grove (24-4) vs. Marist (30-5), 9 p.m. *
Saturday's matches
Semifinal losers in third-place match, 7:25 p.m. *
Semifinal winners in championship match, 8:55 p.m. *
* Approximate times, Games at Redbird Arena
HOW EAST GOT HERE
Glenbard East Regional
Oct. 25: East def. Glenbard North, 2-0 (25-13, 25-17)
Oct. 27: East def. Batavia, 2-0 (25-14, 25-15)
St. Charles East Sectional
Nov. 1: East def. St. Charles North, 2-1 (23-25, 25-19, 25-17)
Nov. 3: East def. York, 2-1 (25-21, 23-25, 25-22)
York Supersectional
Nov. 5: East def. Glenbrook South, 2-1 (21-25, 25-8, 25-17)
EAST'S STATE HISTORY
2001 - FIRST PLACE IN IHSA CLASS AA
Quarterfinals – defeated Downers Grove South, 2-0 (15-8, 15-9)
Semifinals – defeated Normal Community, 2-0 (15-5, 15-5)
Championship – defeated Sandburg, 2-0 (15-12, 15-12)
2007 - THIRD PLACE IN IHSA CLASS 4A
Semifinals – lost to Mother McAuley, 2-0 (25-23, 25-19)
Third-place match –defeated Libertyville, 2-0 (25-19, 25-15)
2008 - FIRST PLACE IN IHSA CLASS 4A
Semifinals – defeated Evanston, 2-0 (26-24, 25-20)
Championship – defeated Benet, 2-1 (23-25, 25-22, 25-19)
Familiarity file
St. Charles East lost to Benet in the Aug. 23 season opener and twice in tournament play – Oct. 8 at the Mizuno Cup and Oct. 15 at the Glenbard East Autumnfest. On Sept. 10, the Saints fell to Cary-Grove in the Prairie Ridge Tournament.