An injury to a teammate led to junior Stephanie Camper’s entrance into Tuesday night’s St. Charles East-St. Charles North volleyball match. Camper’s performance will make it tough to keep her out of the lineup in the future.
Subbing for injured sophomore setter Erienne Barry midway through the first game, Camper’s play off the bench helped spark an East turnaround from a five-point first-game deficit into a 28-26 win. She then served eight second-game points — including two crucial aces — as the Saints held off North 25-14.
“I’m really pleased for Stephanie,” East coach Jennie Kull said. “I’m sad for what happened to Erienne, but I couldn’t be more elated to call on someone to come off the bench and then turn the match around.”
“I wasn’t expecting this at all, it’s just amazing,” Camper said. “But I knew when I came in I had to make something happen and make the team better.”
Barry went down with a knee injury immediately after East (16-5, 5-1 Upstate Eight) rallied from a 13-9 first game-deficit to lead 15-14. The North Stars (12-10, 4-2) led 22-17 and 23-19, thanks to two Katie Fuerst kills (7 kills) before the tables turned.
Senior Samantha Szarmach (7 kills) served four consecutive points — including two aces — as East edged ahead 24-23 lead. Both teams fought through four late ties before Szarmach and Olivia Desormey (6 kills) each had kills to close out the first game.
Camper served the first three points for East in the second game and added four straight and two aces later to stake the Saints to a 15-10 lead.
Player of the match: Samantha Szarmach, St. Charles East, 7 kills.
Key performers: St. Charles East — Olivia Desormey, 6 kills; Meghan Niski, 6 kills; Maisey Mulvey, 12 digs. St. Charles North — Katie Fuerst, 7 kills, block; Kim Juriga, 4 kills, 3 blocks.
