St. Charles North girls volleyball falls in 4A supersectional against Libertyville

There were tears, but also smiles. St. Charles North girls volleyball embodied joy this season, and that’s what coach Lindsey Hawkins hopes the team’s legacy will be. Such an image didn’t change after St. Charles North’s 25-20, 25-20 loss to Libertyville in the Class 4A Fremd Supersectional on Monday night. After the Wildcats’ Cersen Sesi delivered the final kill, the North Stars on the court formed a huddle, just as they always do. “Every point we celebrate, no matter if its win or lose,” junior Maddy Lewis said. “And I think that just the smile on our faces constantly just proves how much joy we have. I think that just really carried us, pushing that joy and promoting that at the end of the season helped us with all our big wins.” The North Stars (25-15) earned their first supersectional berth since 2017. A kill from Mya Mikos gave St. Charles North its first lead of the night – a 9-8 advantage in the second set – but Libertyville answered by taking eight of the next nine points to take a 16-10 edge. A Mikos ace and another North Star point made it 16-14, but that was as close as St. Charles North could cut it down the stretch. The top-seeded Wildcats improve to 39-1 on the season and advance to state for the first time since 2014. Libertyville has now won four consecutive regionals under coach Greg Loika, taking three sectional crowns over the span. “They spread the ball around the offense out really well, so it made it tough on us defensively,” Hawkins said. “Defense is kind of like our thing, and so we did our best. Probably could’ve executed a little better on offense and from the service line.” Senior Ellie Sutter recorded a pair of kills early to keep the first set competitive. Junior Brynn Hopkins’ second kill tied the set at nine before Libertyville gained control to make it a 21-12 affair. Kills from Hopkins, Sutter and junior Molly Meshenky cut the deficit to five before Sesi notched winner. “I think we put up a good fight,” Lewis said. “I’m just so proud of us.” The contest marked the final game for Sutter and seniors Addie Kashuba and Anna Bryniczka. Sutter, who led the team in kills for the season, walks away with much more than statistics. “We’re really all best friends and the chemistry is what took us this far, because we didn’t have the best stats or the best record,” Sutter said. “I think the most special thing about this team is how everyone is each other’s best friend here.” Juniors such as Lewis, Mikos and Hopkins, will look to continue to build that culture. St. Charles North won the DuKane Conference and a regional title for the third consecutive season. Despite not winning 30 matches like each of the last two years, this year’s North Stars went further than both of those squads. “[The seniors] brought them into the culture and made them understand this is how we play North Star volleyball,” Hawkins said. “We’ve been playing phenomenal over the last month. All credit to our seniors, but the juniors are fantastic. The sophomores are fantastic. Very bright future. A really magical way to end the season, but wish it could’ve kept going.”