Earlier this season, St. Charles East set up shop in a classroom and decided to give each player a name or a phrase to describe what they meant to the team.
For senior middle hitter Natalee Rush, her phrase was in all caps: BIG LOUD.
“It means you bring the ‘big loud,'” Rush said. “I think that means sometimes just kind of like acting crazy like turn around when you get a point and start dancing or stick your tongue out.”
Rush has brought the “big loud” not just with her personality but with her play for the Saints (33-7), who meet up with Mother McAuley (37-3) at 8:30 p.m. Friday in the Class 4A state semifinals at Redbird Arena in Normal.
The 6-foot-1 Rush, who is committed to NCAA Division II Texas A&M-Kingsville, is third on the team with 163 kills and leads the Saints with 105 block kills.
“What a pleasant surprise,” St. Charles East coach Jennie Kull said. “First of all, her personality is just vivacious. She’s amazing. She brings such joy to our team.
“She jumps and she has hang time, so she can reach and touch and attack. If she’s in too early, she still makes some great shots and it’s fantastic. She’s really improved. She’s confident. She’s just a major part of our program.”
Rush set the tone early Wednesday for the Saints in a 25-23, 25-17 win over Willowbrook in the Class 4A Proviso West Sectional championship match.
On the third point of the first game, the Warriors sent the ball over the net and Rush delivered it directly to the floor — a “big loud,” if you will.
“It was the first time I jumped and went up and it was like, ‘OK, this is going to be a good game,'” Rush said. “This is high level.”
Beating a tough Willowbrook (36-3) in two games gave the Saints confidence against Loyola (31-9) in Friday’s Hinsdale Central Supersectional, a 25-22, 25-18 win.
“It was a lot of feeling comfortable at the net against big people, knowing we’re bigger no matter how high they jump and how tall they are,” Rush said. “Anything that comes over is playable.”
That’s the attitude the Saints are bringing to Normal.
“They’re not just going,” Kull said. “They want to do well. I think that’s what it’s been the whole season.”
Heading into her final season before retirement, Kull knew she had a talented team led by senior veterans Lexi Crossen, Kate Goudreau, Lia Schneider and Rush.
What Kull didn’t realize was how much the team’s closeness played into the resulting success.
“I had no idea the depth of their connection and the real love they have for each other,” Kull said. “That takes a team way further than maybe having the best players. That’s how they are.”
It has played out as a dream season for Kull. She enters the final weekend seeking her third state championship in 26 seasons coaching the Saints.
“There aren’t even words I have figured out to this point,” Kull said. “That gratitude I have to these kids and the coaches and the people in the community, there are just no words. I’m really thankful and humbled.”
Rush and her teammates would love nothing more than to give Kull a proper send-off this weekend.
“It is pretty great, but it’s not done until we’re done,” Rush said of the team’s success. “We did well, but we’re still going.
“I think what we’re trying to focus on is we’re not good until we get a trophy that says we’re good.”
Paul Johnson is a freelance reporter for The Beacon-News.
