Rosary extends regional streak to 7 straight titles

With a host of powerful hitters at its disposal, Kyle Schalz can get lost in the shuffle.

But the Rosary middle blocker rose to the occasion at the right time for the Royals Saturday evening in Aurora.

With upstart Riverside-Brookfield clamoring for a third game in the championship of the Class 3A Rosary regional final, Schalz followed back-to-back kills with a block for another point to send the hosts to a hard-fought 25-15, 25-20 victory over the Bulldogs.

With its seventh consecutive regional championship, Rosary (30-5), the second seed in the Riverside-Brookfield sectional complex, will meet Nazareth, which defeated IMSA, Thursday night.

"(Coach Lisa Kasper) said for someone to take charge, and I tried to do that as the captain," said Schalz.

"It's hard to defend all three of us (Schalz, Christine Hartmann and Lindsey Weber) all at once."

Rosary used 18 aces to manhandle Manley in the semifinal, allowing only 6 points in the two-game sweep.

R-B (22-9), meanwhile, also coasted in straight games against St. Joseph to set up the championship match.

Weber, who led all hitters with 10 kills, opened the match with three straight to set the tone for Rosary, and its twin set attack of Hartmann and Alex Sikic fed the Royals' offensive-minded attackers.

The two combined for 26 assists, and the versatility, augmented by the serving prowess of Olivia O'Connor, who delivered three consecutive first-game aces, had the Rosary attack in high-octane mode.

"We've been together for so long," said the Kentucky-bound Hartmann, the St. Charles resident who added 8 kills and 5 blocks. "We just knew we had to get it done."

O'Connor served 7 straight points in the closing stretches of the first game, which Schalz polished off with one of her 6 kills.

The second game had a completely different feel, however, as R-B built a 17-13 cushion behind the play of Molly McCloskey and Regan Riley.

But the Royals used a serving miscue to return the honors, and Sikic engineered a 5-point service run orchestrated by 4 combined kills from Hartmann and Kelly Hogan.

The final Hartmann kill gave Rosary a 19-17 lead, and Hogan brought Rosary to 21-18 with an ace.

R-B climbed to within one on a Roxanne Schliep kill, but Weber framed the Schalz 3-point closing run with a kill of her own to end the Bulldogs' courageous battle.

"They left it all out on the court," said R-B coach Jessica Andrasko.

"It was nice to see some competition," said Kasper.

"R-B played a good game. We didn't want to walk through this."