Girls volleyball: Fenwick tops Rosary again
Rosary got a second shot at Fenwick Thursday night in the Class 3A Glenbard South championship game. Unfortunately for the Royals it went a lot like the first meeting.
Fenwick's size made life difficult for Rosary's hitters. Just like they did in the regular season, the Friars swept two sets from Rosary, 25-15, 25-13.
"I think why the girls are frustrated is they know this wasn't their best," Rosary coach Rachel Fox said.
Fenwick (24-11) will play Marian Catholic in the IC Catholic Prep supersectional Saturday.
"I think our block was a little oversized for some of their hitters," Fenwick coach Kathleen O'Laughlin said. "Our pin blockers are pretty big. That's challenging for some of their hitters."
Rosary (25-14) started the match well with an ace from Martha Konovodoff on the opening point. Molly Curley followed with a kill, and Meegan Hart added another as the Royals took a 4-1 lead, which turned out to be their biggest.
"We started off pretty well, we had a little bit of confidence," Fox said. "They are a great team. They have a bigger block than we have seen besides a few 4A teams. We didn't respond to that. Those are growing pains."
Fenwick took is first lead at 7-6 and didn't trail again. As the Friars began blocking better, Rosary's hitters had to try for a higher degree of difficulty with their shots and ended up making 8 attack errors in the set.
The Friars led 16-14, then put the Royals away with a 9-1 run to close the set.
"I think once we realized all the pressure that was on us, it started getting in our heads and we started thinking too much," Rosary junior Erin Burke said. "Volleyball is a game you just have to play, use your athleticism, use the instincts you have. When you start overthinking it becomes a mental game, not a physical game."
Rosary fell behind quickly in the second set. Fox took her first timeout down 15-9 and her second at 20-12, and she went to her bench with Lauren Brummel putting away a couple kills. But the Friars again were too strong up front and also scrappy in the back row with several spectacular digs.
Kathleen Carpenter led Fenwick with 7 kills and Kerry Best added 6.
Burke paced the Royals with 5 kills, Konovodoff had 9 digs and Julia Gauthier 8 assists and 2 kills. All three return next year.
"We are all such close friends and basically sisters so I think we'll come back from this loss and use it to grow and come back really strong," Burke said.
Rachel Ping was the only senior on Rosary's roster. The Royals, who have gone one game further in each postseason under Fox, are poised for big things in 2016.
"I hate that conversation at the end of the year, we'll do it next year, because it's so hard to look that far," Fox said. "But we have a great core of returning players. This will be my fourth year with them. They are getting it, they really are. I'm excited for next year. But it's going to hurt for a little bit."