Rosary's energy holds off St. Edward
Three-game volleyball matches often come down to which team has the most energy in the third game.
On Tuesday night in Elgin, that team was Rosary.
The Royals turned up the jets in Game 3 and dominated St. Edward to come away with a 25-15, 24-26, 25-16 nonconference win in a battle of former Suburban Christian Conference rivals.
"We've had our fair share of (3-game matches)," said Rosary senior Michaela Ping, who didn't start the match after having to sit out Monday's practice with an illness. "Our issue is we have the energy but we don't use it in the second game like we should. We got a little too comfortable. It's a challenge to us to finish the second game and that's a goal for us to work on."
The Royals (10-8) dominated Game 1 from the midway point on, then did the same in Game 3 after allowing St. Edward (10-4) to come back and prevail in Game 2.
In the opener, a St. Edward error gave Rosary a 12-11 lead and the Royals never looked back. Holding onto a 19-15 lead, Rosary got serve back and a 20-15 lead on a kill from senior Joanna Wedge, then 3 kills from sophomore Molly Curley, one from Wedge and a St. Edward error to close out the game.
Rosary appeared to be on the verge of the sweep when it took a 20-17 lead in Game 2 but the Green Wave came back. St. Edward was able to tie the game on an ace from Megan Barth that hit the ceiling. Rosary went ahead again 22-20 but the Wave got a kill from sophomore Dominque Washington and 2 Rosary errors to take a 23-22 lead. A Michaela Ping kill and a Wave error put Rosary at match point but the Royals couldn't close it out as a hitting error allowed St. Edward to tie it. Two Cece Rapp blocks and another Royals hitting error pushed the match to a third game.
Rosary never trailed in the deciding game, turning a 6-6 tie into an 11-6 lead, from which the Royals expanded on and never allowed St. Edward back into the game. Michaela Ping's kill sent the Royals home a winner.
"It's that time of the year where girls are getting sick and tired," said Rosary coach Rachel Hartmann. "Michaela and Erin (Burke) were both sick (Monday) so we didn't start them tonight. We tried to bring them back in the second game and it didn't work out but St. Ed's did a great job in that game. We had to come back and pick it up in the third game and we did."
Michaela Ping led the Royals with 7 kills, while Curley added 6. Martha Konovodoff had 19 digs, Domenique Voelsch added 12 and Curley 10. Junior setter Brooklyn Martner dished out 27 assists.
For St. Edward, Rapp had 6 blocks and 4 kills, sophomore Dominque Washington put down 8 kills and had 7 digs, Barth had 4 kills and 5 aces and Alyssa Saunders 9 digs.
"I think we were intimidated the whole time," said Wave coach Jaime Dovichi. "We played like little sisters to the big girls and we were a step behind all night. But that's by far the best team we've seen this year. It was like playing in the SCC again and you love to play those teams. Now we know what we need to practice on and we can go from here."