St. Charles North’s Mia Dela Merced and her teammates hadn’t been in an environment like this in two seasons.
The stands were packed Tuesday night at rival St. Charles East, and the North Stars were nursing a one-point lead late in the third game.
Dela Merced was feeling the moment and called for the ball on the final three points. The senior outside hitter pounded down all three for kills, giving St. Charles North a thrilling 19-25, 25-22, 25-21 DuKane Conference victory.
“Both the East and North fans sections were so crazy,” Dela Merced said. “I think it amped us up to get moving and really execute during the second and third sets.
“I want to get up there and finish it for my team. I want to make it easy for us.”
St. Charles North coach Lindsey Hawkins, who knew Dela Merced was thriving in that frenzied environment, wasn’t surprised Dela Merced was the one who stepped up at the end to finish off the victory for the North Stars (14-8, 3-2).
“She is kind of the heart and soul of our team and the glue of our team,” Hawkins said. “She struggled a little bit in the beginning. It was good to see her rise to the challenge at the end and carry her team. That was exciting.”
St. Charles East (11-10, 2-3) dominated Game 1, partly due to the blocking of senior middle hitter Isabella Mosquera. She had two kills and two blocks and served an ace as the Saints led wire-to-wire.
In Game 2, Alexis Bardouniotis had three kills and Kayla Davern delivered two kills down the stretch as the North Stars pulled away to force a decisive set.
“We just needed to learn from some of the mistakes we were making in the first set because they’re a smart team,” Hawkins said. “We needed to expose some of the holes over there and we weren’t doing that in the first set.
“I felt they did a really good job of responding to some of the feedback we were giving them and executing a little better.”
St. Charles East forced a 10-10 tie in Game 3 before the North Stars went on a 6-1 spurt to take control. Still, three straight kills from Alexis Crossen cut the lead to 22-21 and coaxed a timeout.
Dela Merced, however, responded with her three straight kills to clinch the match.
“I can say we have gotten better but we still have some strides to make,” St. Charles East coach Jennie Kull said. “I think Bella had a phenomenal game. I think Lia had a great game. Even Alexis had a good game.
“The problem right now is we’re young where we need experience. I’m not disappointed. I think that’s going to help us grow. It’s one more step toward getting us where we want to be at the end of the season.”
Crossen led St. Charles East with 11 kills. Mosquera added eight blocks, six digs and four kills and Lia Schneider had nine digs.
Dela Merced paced St. Charles North with 14 kills. Bardouniotis added 10 kills and Jessica Parker had 28 assists.
In front of a crowd they hadn’t seen in two seasons, Dela Merced was pleased how her team handled the pressure of a rivalry match.
“Mentally, this is a North vs. East game, all this energy,” Dela Merced said. “We just really had to zone in and focus. It will really help us more as we move forward this season.”
Paul Johnson is a freelance reporter for The Beacon-News.