Steady Rosary holds off upstart Aurora Central

In a frenzied atmosphere in the championship game of the Class 3A Aurora Central regional Saturday night, it paid for Rosary to keep its cool.

Underdog Aurora Central played with passion and pushed the Royals in Game 1 before Rosary's steady pace held for a 25-23, 25-17 victory.

The Royals (26-10) will play St. Francis for a third time this season, hoping to reverse two earlier losses when the Suburban Christian Blue rivals meet Tuesday night in the Class 3A Rosary sectional.

“We were trying to stay focused and keep a positive attitude no matter what happens,” Rosary setter Lindsay Juriga said. “As long as we are upbeat and keep energy on our side we'll be fine. We focus on not getting down on ourselves.”

Aurora Central (29-8) had its home fans on their feet early and often, riding a wave of emotion to give the Royals everything they wanted in Game 1.

Ashley Wilk's kill gave the Chargers their first lead at 5-4. The teams stayed close, with one of Rosary's five hitting errors in Game 1 putting the Chargers ahead for the last time at 15-14.

Amelia Wegman, who put away a game-high 11 kills, helped Rosary extend to a 20-16 lead only to watch the Chargers again come back. When the Royals hit long on an Erin Traczek serve, the game was tied for the 13th and final time, 23-23.

Rosary sophomore Kate Stefanski came up with perhaps the biggest play of the match on the next point, a block that gave Rosary a 24-23 lead. Wegman then powered home a kill through two Charger blockers to end Game 1.

“We figured there would be enough yelling and screaming on the other side,” Rosary coach Lisa Kasper said. “We figured we'd play as smooth as possible, not have any big bumps. I prefer emotional steady and not have any peaks and valleys. I think if you play at the same level the whole time that works too.”

It certainly did in Game 2. The Royals never trailed, building their biggest lead at 8 points several times, including 21-13 when Abby Konovodoff set Juriga for a kill.

The Chargers fought back one last time, with a Wilk kill, a block by Kendall Adams and a couple Rosary mistakes bringing Aurora Central within 21-17. That turned out to be their final point, with a big swing by sophomore Briana Flagg on Juriga's 14th assist ending the match and giving Rosary its 10th straight regional title.

“We really wanted that,” Juriga said. “We knew we were up and down during the season. We want to peak (now). We focused on keep going up.”

Aurora Central certainly is going up under second-year coach Jeanne Czipri. This is the second straight year they've set a program record for wins. The Chargers also won their second straight SCC Gold title and two tournaments at Timothy Christian and Plano.

“From where this program has come to be able to have a game with a team like that in a regional final in two years is huge,” Czipri said. “They used to not score points against a team like that. As upset as these seniors and girls are, they played out of their minds tonight. It was a good fight.”

Now comes trying to clear the next hurdle and beating a team like Rosary, who also defeated the Chargers in last year's regional final, 25-10, 25-23.

“For a program that hasn't won a lot, we are making the strides we need to,” Czipri said. “It's not going to happen over night. It's going to take time until we can beat teams like this and St. Francis.”

Wilk led the Chargers with 9 kills.