Girls Volleyball: St. Charles East outlasts Glenbard West in marathon first set, moves on to sectional final

HILLSIDE – Kate Goudreau and Sarah Musial could finally catch their breaths and stabilize their heartbeats.

St. Charles East had just outlasted Glenbard West 31-29, 25-18 in Monday’s sectional semifinal. The first set alone saw nine ties and seven set points combined.

Goudreau’s power swings, Musial’s savvy sets and other efforts from Natalee Rush, Julia Ferrandino and Lexi Crossen at the net all came together at the perfect time for the Saints to advance to the Class 4A Proviso West Sectional final against Willowbrook on Wednesday.

“In practice, we [simulate] these types of tight games with the score set up already and that’s practicing our pushing through and perseverance through those tough moments,” said Musial, the Saints’ junior setter.

Glenbard West (25-13) took a seemingly comfortable 18-12 advantage in the first set, but Goudreau, Lia Schneider and Musial combined for a 6-0 run to put the Saints back in the match. The Saints took a 23-20 lead, but Glenbard West fought back to tie it and start a seesaw battle down the stretch.

Glenbard West had set point opportunities three times at 27, 28 and 29, but the Saints had an answer each time. Crossen’s kill inched the Saints ahead at 30-29 and a block from Ferrandino clinched the marathon first set.

“The environment of the gym kind of helped us, too,” said Gouderau, who anchored the attack with 12 kills. Musial had three kills and two aces. Ferrandino had four kills, and Rush had seven kills.

“They were obviously a little nervous. I didn’t see that before the match as much. I saw a little bit,” Saints coach Jennie Kull said. “We needed to get this. This is our seed. We [knew] we needed to get this one and now everything here is fluff. We’re going to be playing a great team [in Willowbrook], so we can’t wait [to get going] like that. We can’t give them the start like we did in the first set. They’ve got to step right out and go.”

By the second set, the Saints found themselves more in rhythm.

Glenbard West coach Dan Scott knew blocking and points were strong points of both teams. Points, evidently, were going to be “hard to come by.”

“And we were going to be in this position where everybody was going to have to give everything they had. It was going to go point for point. We were going to have runs and we had to stay calm, composed and try to keep battling,” Scott said. “It was tough. We had a chance to put the ball away about two or three opportunities we didn’t get a full swing on and [St. Charles East is] too good. They’re going to pick that up.”

Ivy Toth and Marin Johnson had four kills each for Glenbard West. Avery Herbert had five kills and an ace.

“Credit to St. Charles East. They’re an outstanding team,” Scott said. “They’ve got multiple Division I players over there that gave us fits. I hope we gave them fits, too, with our back row and defense with our two seniors, Liz Murray and Demi Carpio taking control back there. Haydon Green, our setter, also. A ton of leadership on the floor.”

“I think every single person had one of their best games,” Goudreau said. “We’re always together. We just always play well together and tonight, we just did it extra well.”

The Saints, vying for their first sectional title since 2018, now have the Kenny sisters and Willowbrook in their way.

“This is something we’ve been preparing for all season and I know that all of our energy, it’s all excitement more than nerves,” Musial said. “I know we all really want this for our team. And, for Kull, for her last season with us.”