Girls Volleyball notes: Kayla Davern making an impact on deep St. Charles North pin rotation

ST. CHARLES – Kayla Davern is part of a crowded outside pin rotation at St. Charles North, but it hasn’t stifled her impact on the court.

“It’s just nice. We have a lot of pins who are offensively very gifted,” coach Lindsey Hawkins said after the North Stars’ 25-19, 25-16 win over Geneva on Sept. 20. “I think a lot of people will key in on Katie [Scherer] and then their second option is keying in on Haley [Burgdorf]. So that really opens up stuff for Alex [Bardouniotis] and Kayla. ... It’s kind of nice because they are getting a lot of sets that they do stuff with.

“They [all] are very productive with the ball, so that’s awesome to have, too.”

Davern, a senior, is fourth on St. Charles North in kills (44) and sports a respectable 32% hit percentage.

Against the Vikings, Davern had two kills.

Even if she enters for just a short stint, the 5-foot-11 Davern makes the most of her opportunities at the net.

“I know we have a lot of [taller] hitters. I’m one of our shorter hitters, so when I go up to hit, I’m more focused on where I’m hitting rather than how hard I’m hitting,” Davern said. “I try to make that a goal every time I get the ball.”

Davern has overcome sprained ankles in recent seasons.

“I’ve had many, many ankle injuries, so that does hold me back sometimes during the season,” Davern said. “During practices, especially, having to go easy and everything, but, obviously, once it’s game day, it doesn’t matter at all for me [because I have] to play hard.

“Last year toward playoff time, I was injured [coming down when I] landed on someone. I was out the rest of the season, so that was definitely harder for me to come back from because of doubled sprained ankles. I’m very cautious of it now [landing] after those few injuries.”

Davern tries to be more relaxed in practice.

“I’m not one to overthink my mistakes or anything,” Davern said. “That definitely helps me when I go into games.”

Kane settling in for Geneva

Mia Kane doesn’t appear to be one to miss many sets.

Kane, who has 199 assists on the season, is an active part of setting up the Geneva offense.

“Mia does a nice job of ... one thing we’ve been working on is let’s get our hands on every ball,” Geneva coach Lauren Wiscinski said. “Our passes aren’t always perfect, but we’ve got to make it better. Got to make it happen and I think she’s getting better at bettering the ball and making that happen.

“She does a nice job of running our offense. When we run our middles and we start off strong with our middles, we do well. It all starts with the pass. If we can’t pass, can’t get the middle, but Mia does a nice job of leading the crew and she’s a good addition.”