It was a duo St. Charles East couldn’t contain.
Hersey sophomore middle hitter Sean John contributed 16 kills while junior middle hitter Kieran Daly collected nine kills as Hersey defeated St. Charles East 25-18, 25-17 in the championship match of the St. Charles East Invitational on Saturday.
The Huskies, 5-0 in the invitational without losing a set, moved to 8-3 on the season.
“We did a great job of getting the ball to our middles and Sean and Kieran did a great job,” Hersey coach Laura Gerber said. “We had a good overall effort all day and our communication was good. This is a great competitive tournament early in the season. St. Charles (East) is a very good team. We are still trying different lineups.”
To go with 16 kills, John added five blocks and two aces.
“We are improving all the time,” John said. “The setters did a great job of getting the ball to the middles.”
Daly contributed three blocks with two aces for the champions.
“We beat a very good team and played well the entire day,” Daly said. “We got the ball in good position in the middle.”
St. Charles East coach Matt Caputo praised the Huskies.
“They have two great middles,” Caputo said. “Hersey is a very good team. I couldn’t be more proud of our team. We just ran out of gas. We gave great efforts.”
Zack Heilers paced the Saints (10-4) with 15 kills.
“He is a great kid, great student and great leader,” Caputo said. “He had a really good day.”
In set 1, the Saints and Huskies were tied at 10 before the tournament champions reeled off five consecutive points to take a 15-10 lead.
John had four kills and Daly one during the crucial surge, then won the set on John’s block.
Hersey grabbed a 14-6 lead in set 2 and never looked back. A kill by Daly gave the Huskies the game, match and tournament championship.
In the third-place match, Plainfield East defeated Geneva, 22-25, 25-23, 25-20.
The Vikings, playing without starters Will and Jack Rodenbostel along with Blake Beaulieu, finished fourth. Henry Sartell led the Vikings (5-8) with nine kills.
“We missed three key players but it was a good day to play a lot of different kids and develop some depth,“ Geneva coach Stephanie Hennig said. ”These kids never quit and we will be fine with our three kids back. We gutted it out today and we believe there is good things to come.”
In the semifinals, St. Charles East beat Geneva 18-25, 25-17, 25-15. In set 1, the Saints were losing 12-1.
“The kids didn’t panic after the bad start,” Caputo said. “We played well the rest of the first game and took that momentum in the second and third games.”
Josh Trentham and Heilers paced the Saints with six kills.
Sartell paced the Vikings with eight kills while Nile Schneden served four aces.
Hersey won its semifinal over Plainfield East, 26-24, 25-17. In set 1, the Huskies broke a 17-17 tie with six straight points to take a 23-17 lead. Jay, Daly and Kade Blazek had two kills each. A kill by Ethan Gries gave Hersey a 1-0 lead in the match.
In set 2, Hersey grabbed a 16-9 lead and never looked back. A kill by John gave Hersey the set and the match. Daly and John led the winners with seven kills apiece.
https://www.dailyherald.com/20260411/boys-volleyball/boys-volleyball-improving-hersey-captures-championship-at-st-charles-east/