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Boys Volleyball: William Courter, Geneva third at St. Charles East Invite; Saints seventh

ST. CHARLES – For a Geneva team with three wins coming into the St. Charles East Invite, from an energy standpoint, the rough start to the season wasn't apparent Saturday. At least not judging from smiles on faces.

Perhaps a third-place finish and four wins helps pick up spirits, but it was hard not to notice the Viking's camaraderie on display. Geneva junior Will Johnson had a playful side bump with coach Stephanie Rasmussen coming off the court on a substitution, bench players cheered all game and the Vikings reversed an early-season knack for being one of the quieter teams on the court, per middle William Courter. "Our coaches have put a lot of inspiration in us to keep getting better [and] talking with each other," Courter said following Geneva's 25-21, 25-23 third place triumph over West Chicago. "We just like to talk. We like to have fun. Overall, it's great to win, but we want to have fun too."

By JACOB BARTELSON

Perhaps a third-place finish and four wins helps pick up spirits, but it was hard not to notice the Viking's camaraderie on display. Geneva junior Will Johnson had a playful side bump with coach Stephanie Rasmussen coming off the court on a substitution, bench players cheered all game and the Vikings reversed an early-season knack for being one of the quieter teams on the court, per middle William Courter. "Our coaches have put a lot of inspiration in us to keep getting better [and] talking with each other," Courter said following Geneva's 25-21, 25-23 third place triumph over West Chicago. "We just like to talk. We like to have fun. Overall, it's great to win, but we want to have fun too."

A tough practice helped kick the turnaround into gear for Geneva (7-10), who took down Plainfield South 25-21, 25-23, Elgin 25-22, 26-21,18-16, and Fenton 25-22, 25-14 before beating West Chicago for third place. Rasmussen tries to build that rapport with her players so they feel comfortable, and they could take opportunities to connect with their teammates. "We've really been working at practice on the communication aspect, but as well as just being aggressive and maintaining the aggression throughout the entire match," Rasmussen said. "[Plus], not giving up when we had those leads. Today, was the first time that we kind of applied everything that we've been learning."

"Kind of a minor setback" to Geneva's early-season woes could be its lack of players who play club volleyball, per Courter, but he also says "hustle out-beats talent a lot." "If you have a whole team that's working hard versus a team of talent that's not working well together, that's the biggest thing," Courter said. "I believe that the further the season, we're just going to keep working harder [and] keep getting better, and hopefully by the end of the season we'll make a regional run." St. Charles East (8-6) placed seventh after defeating Elgin in two sets. The Saints won four games total in pool play, but lost sets to West Chicago (25-21, 33-31 and 15-14), Hersey (25-20, 25-15) and Oswego (25-21, 25-17 and 17-15).

East defeated Huntley 25-14, 25-15 for its lone pool play match win of the day. The Saints are working on integrating newcomers and finding their groove, while balancing the improvement from seniors. "We're a team that goes up and down," Saints senior setter Lucas Coker said. "We have a ton of energy one day and we just kinda have to level out right now. "I think it's 90 percent a mental game. If you make a mistake, you have to shake it off and get the next one. The leaders have to go up to the younger guys, give them a pat on the back, [and] say 'Hey, we gotta shake that one off – It never even happened – just get the next one and focus on the next ball."