Rosary has a blast at Waubonsie

Rosary seems to have righted its ship.

A week removed from a rough stretch of five losses in eight matches, the Royals beat Downers Grove North 25-19, 25-22 to win Waubonsie Valley’s Warrior Blast on Saturday.

Second-seeded Rosary (17-7) went 5-0 over the two-day tournament, which has senior Mia Wegman feeling pretty good as she heads off to an official recruiting visit to the University of Houston today.

“We definitely are back to playing at our level,” Wegman said. “This weekend we stuck to our game plan and our level of play. We’re figuring things out.”

Wegman put down a match-high 10 kills against Downers Grove North, her kill off a block giving Rosary match point as the Royals staved off a late Trojans rally.

“I just try to lead vocally out there,” Wegman said. “When I’m focusing on talking a lot it leads to me actually playing well. When you’re around match point, you’re thinking, ‘OK, this ball’s gotta go down.’”

Both sets were back-and-forth early, and in both Rosary took command midway through. The first set was tied 12-12 after a kill by Downers Grove North’s Taylor Kasal, before a kill and ace by Rosary’s Alexis Banks sandwiched around a Wegman kill gave the Royals the lead for good at 15-12. Two more Wegman kills finished off that set.

A kill by Downers Grove North’s Jessie Tulacka, one of 9 for the Bradley-bound senior, and a Katherine Mahlke ace had the second set even at 16-16. Brianna Flagg followed with the third of her 4 kills, a Flagg kill on the back line made it 20-17 and a Flagg ace pushed it to 22-17.

“I’m thrilled,” said Rosary coach Lisa Kasper, noting that Downers Grove North is her alma mater. “We righted ourselves at the end of the Wheaton Classic, and I was pleased with how we played today.”

Downers Grove North (7-10) seemed to have nothing left after upsetting top seed Hinsdale South 25-19, 25-22 in the day’s first match, then beating higher-seeded St. Ignatius 25-20, 25-27, 25-13.

“We were gassed,” Trojans coach Mark Wasik said. “We’re relying so much on two or three girls, and they were gassed. This was not the same team (against Rosary) that I saw in our last two matches. We weren’t clicking offensively, nor did we serve-receive well.”

The Trojans’ sub-.500 record is deceiving, considering the brutal schedule they’ve played.

“It was nice to turn that corner today and beat Hinsdale South, to see them play the way I know our girls are capable of playing,” Wasik said. “We’re 7-10, but I’d say we’re the best 7-10 team in the ... country.”

Defending champion Hinsdale South (15-6) bounced back from the Downers Grove North loss to beat Lincoln-Way North 25-20, 25-12 and Neuqua Valley 25-19, 25-12 for fifth place. Hornets coach Lisa Martinez was hardly satisfied.

“It was one thing after another (against Downers Grove North). We couldn’t do anything right,” said Martinez, noting that her team hit at a negative percentage in the match. “Downers North is a good team, don’t get me wrong. But it had nothing to do with what they were doing. It was all at our end.”

At the other end of the gamut was Batavia coach Lori Trippi-Payne.

The Bulldogs (14-10) beat Waubonsie Valley 25-11, 25-23 in the quarterfinals, before losing to Rosary 25-13, 25-15 — the teams’ third match over the last nine days. St. Ignatius then beat Batavia 23-25, 25-16, 25-21, but the fourth-place finish was still Batavia’s best at Waubonsie in 11 years.

Kristen Koncelik had 11 kills, Mary Nilles 19 assists and Stephanie Kinane 18 digs in the last match.

“I’m excited for our team,” Trippi-Payne said. “Getting into the Gold bracket and getting fourth is pretty darn good.”

Waubonsie (13-10), which edged Neuqua 25-21, 29-27 in the final match of pool play Friday, lost to Batavia and then to Neuqua 25-19, 18-25, 25-16 in a rematch Saturday. The Warriors came back to beat Lincoln-Way North 25-16, 21-25, 25-19 for seventh place.

Lisa Studnicka had 44 kills, 35 digs and 8 blocks, Rachel Minarick 57 assists and 26 kills and Lauren Clarke 88 digs for Waubonsie over its five matches.

“I was pleased with how we pushed through Friday night against Neuqua,” Waubonsie coach Kristen Stuart said, “and it was nice to see us bounce back after two losses today. That’s not hard to do, to find the energy and will to win.”