Rosary, St. Charles North both victorious

Rosary's girls volleyball team let their serves do the work Thursday night in Plainfield.

The Royals (4-0) dealt 8 aces against Oswego East in their opening round match at the Best of the West invite at Plainfield North, then nailed 10 more on Barrington in round two.

"When you're playing against teams that are not that strong, serving is something that can help you win more easily," Rosary coach Lisa Kasper said.

After a bit of a sluggish start, the Royals took care of Oswego East, 25-12, 25-13.

"We had to get refocused because we were playing a bit lackadaisically," Kasper said.

Rosary did not encounter so much as a speed bump in its second round match, cruising past Barrington, 25-10, 25-12. Lindsey Weber led the way with 7 kills and 3 aces, Kylie Schalz had 4 aces, and Olivia O'Connor added 3 more as the Broncos struggled just to keep the ball in play.

St. Charles North (3-0) also won both of its matches after a shaky start in the opener against Plainfield Central. The North Stars dropped Game 1 to the Wildcats, 25-17, before rallying to win the next two, 25-19, 25-9.

"I don't know the answer to what happened," St. Charles North coach Lindsay Trudell said. "Maybe we were a little nervous or feeling some pressure, but that really shouldn't be happening."

Though her team had shown steady improvement throughout that match, dominating Barrington in Game 3, Trudell wanted to see a more consistent performance against second round opponent Wheaton Academy.

"I let them know that wearing a St. Charles North uniform is a special thing, and I wanted them to be proud of that, and play aggressive, and not be intimidated," Trudell said.

Trudell's heartfelt talk seemed to have an impact on her team, as the North Stars jumped on the Warriors and didn't let up until they walked off the court with a 25-13, 25-12 sweep.

Batavia's night was defined not by its first round win over Oswego, but rather by its disappointing second round loss to Plainfield North.

The Bulldogs (1-2) wasted no time getting after the young Panthers, and quickly took control of Game 1.

"We came out and did well with our fundamentals," Batavia coach Lori Trippi-Payne said. "We really picked it up on defense, and Oswego had a hard time with transition."

The 25-15, 25-13 win was Batavia's first of the season, and gave Trippi-Payne a glimpse of what her team is capable of.

For a while it looked like Batavia was poised to ride the wave of success right through its match against the host Tigers.

The Bulldogs led 18-13 in Game 1 when Plainfield North's Sarah Scott dropped in a pair of aces, and that seemed to shift the momentum in the Tigers' direction.

"We were off our game and missed a couple of serves in Game 1," Trippi-Payne said.

The Tigers won that game 25-22, but Batavia responded by controlling the middle in Game 2, thanks to solid efforts up front from Melissa Norville, Taylor Koncelik and Kristin Hoffman.

"We executed in that game and totally dominated the net," Trippi-Payne said. "We just did what we needed to do and got the job done."

After winning that game, 25-17, Batavia led 23-17 in Game 3, but Plainfield North scored the last 8 points to win the match.