ST. CHARLES – A fast and furious start helped the St. Charles East boys volleyball team beat an equally tough Wheaton North team on their home turf April 10.
The Saints came out strong in the first set and never looked back, defeating the Falcons 25-22, 28-26 to improve to 9-6 overall.
“We had a pretty good start, which is kind of unusual for us. We usually lose the first set, unfortunately, and it goes to three,” said Dom Sciortino, a senior middle for the Saints who paced the attack with eight kills. “We came out pretty fast. We got out to an early lead and really kept our foot on the gas our whole game.”
The first set started with each team scoring points evenly back and forth. St. Charles East went on a four-point run to pull ahead 12-8. Wheaton North answered back with five straight points to grab a 13-12 lead.
It went back and forth and the set was tied at 22-22 before St. Charles East forged ahead at a crucial time with a three-point run to win the first set 25-22.
“They are a really good team. It was great to see us keep our composure and stay after it,” East coach Kate McCullagh said.
As has been the case this season, the Saints’ middle hitters played a significant role in the victory.
“Mik [Brunovskis] stepped up big time,” Sciortino said. “He had a couple kills, a couple blocks and a big block that really turned it in our favor.”
Even though the middles contributed plenty, it was more of a team effort throughout the game for the Saints to get past the Falcons.
“It was a pretty good team effort, more than usual,” McCullagh said. “It’s usually our middles that are pretty dominant. Everybody did a really nice job.”
In the second set, East continued the momentum and took an early lead.
The Falcons fought back and it was close the rest of the way.
Leading 7-6, the Saints pulled ahead with four straight points. After taking a timeout, Wheaton North found its composure and came back to tie the score 13-13 before grabbing a 17-14 lead.
The Saints battled back to charge ahead 23-22, and held on for the 28-26 victory.
Lucas Coker had 21 assists and Chris Foerstel had 12 digs for the Saints.
“We really came together as a team. I thought even though in the second game we let down and then came back, we pulled it together,” said East junior Matt Kolet, who tallied four kills in the match. “We picked up our slack and really showed who we are as a team.”