Geneva girls volleyball prevails in high-powered matchup

ST. CHARLES – A Geneva girls volleyball team that intends to play in multiple much-hyped, high-pressure matches come the postseason gave an early indication it has a team capable of rising to the occasion.

Playing Upstate Eight Conference River rival St. Charles North in a crucial conference match, Geneva distanced itself from a poor start and pulled away from the North Stars on Tuesday for a 21-25, 25-13, 25-14 victory.

In a match with multiple Division I recruits on both sides of the net and an atmosphere befitting the skill on display, the Vikings kept their cool and their perfect record, now 12-0 overall on the season.

“The crowd was fantastic, our bench had energy, our floor had energy,” Geneva coach Annie Seitelman said. “I love playing in these types of environments, and I know the kids do.”

The Vikings needed three games in consecutive road victories, having gone to the wire last week at DeKalb.

Senior right-side hitter Kyley Thompson said the Vikings have enjoyed being pushed lately by opponents capable of giving Geneva trouble. North certainly fits the description.

“It’s so fun,” Thompson said. “It was so fun. It’s so great to play against people your own level. It just was a really fun, good competition, and there was a lot of good sportsmanship, too.”

North (9-3, 2-1 UEC River) dominated much of Game 1, ballooning its lead to 16-7 after a kill by Jaclyn Taylor. But serving strings by Geneva’s Mikayla Lanasa and Kelsey Wicinski drew the Vikings within 22-20, and although North closed the game with a Daley Krage kill, the Vikings looked more like themselves.

“Volleyball’s a game of momentum,” Seitelman said. “So even though we didn’t get the end result that we wanted at the end of the first set, I think the tenacity that they showed and kind of that grit to fight back and make the first set more competitive kind of led us into our second set, which started out pretty well for us.”

Quite the understatement. Geneva (12-0, 3-0 UEC River) won 10 of the first 11 points in the second set, and North never fully recovered in either the second or third sets.

North Stars coach Lindsey Hawkins loved her team’s execution in the early stages of the match, but North couldn’t locate a second wind once the match began to slip.

“Obviously set two, we basically started giving them free balls from the service line, and they really were able to take us out of system, which is a struggle for our setters,” Hawkins said. “When our setters can’t get the ball on the net or mix up the offense, then it’s a lot easier to play defense. We just stopped doing what the gameplan was and what you should always do no matter who you’re facing, which is serve aggressively and pass the ball.”

On the few attacking swings North did muster, Geneva blocking stalwarts Maddie Courter and Ally Mullen often prevented the North Stars from cleanly cashing in.

Taylor (seven kills, six assists), Claire Anderson (six kills), Taryn Dal Degan (11 assists) and Frankie Neari (six digs) were among North’s leaders.

For Geneva, not only did Loberg lead the way with 12 kills but she also was credited with a match-high 17 digs. The Wisconsin recruit’s big night came despite a start that mirrored her team’s.

“I personally was getting frustrated because I got blocked the first three hits of mine,” Loberg said. “I was getting frustrated, but I knew once I got one point, I would hopefully shake it off and be fine. We picked each other up which was really helpful.”

Fellow sophomore Ally Barrett added eight kills, while Lanasa (21 assists) and Wicinski (15 digs) also keyed the resurgence for Geneva, which ousted North in a Class 4A sectional final last season.