SCC perfection denied

Emily Weber had her best match of the season.

The junior on Rosary's volleyball team picked the right match to do so against Suburban Catholic Conference rival St. Francis. Her 10 kills and 7 blocks were key in the Royals' win over the Spartans, 25-16, 14-25, 25-16 Thursday in Aurora.

Teammate Amy Kus was part of the block party as well, as she registered 9 blocks.

"Emily did a fantastic job blocking," Rosary coach Lisa Kasper said. "Amy had kind of been thrown in the fire this year, having never played varsity with one year of club experience. She really grew up tonight and Emily came out of her sister's (Lindsey) shadow."

This was the first conference loss St. Francis (21-6, 10-1) has suffered this season. The Spartans, however, are still in first place. They would have clinched at least a tie if they beat the Royals, who improved to 20-7, 8-3.

"I said at the beginning of the season I didn't think anyone was going to go undefeated (in the conference), so we had to beat them," Kasper said. "We did not want them clinching here (on our home court)."

"On paper, we will probably see them again in the sectional championship, but that's OK," St. Francis coach Peg Kopec added.

There were 6 ties in Game 1 before Rosary went on a 5-point run that unknotted a 16-16 tie. Behind Lindsey Weber's serving, St. Francis errors and an Amelia Wegman kill, the Royals kept the lead the rest of the way and ended the game on one of Lindsey Weber's team-high 12 kills.

St. Francis came ready for Game 2, which it coasted through. The Spartans didn't allow Rosary to reach double-digits in points until they had scored 21 points themselves. The game appropriately ended with one of Kelsey Robinson's team-high 12 kills.

"It's nice when things start to go your way," Kopec said. "It's when things don't go your way where you have to dig deep down inside."

"We just couldn't get into any type of rhythm," Kasper added of Game 2. "In the first game, we had an excellent rhythm going (and in the) third game, excellent rhythm going."

St. Francis led early in Game 3 until the Royals used a 5-point run behind the serving of Shannon Leahy to push ahead for good in the middle of the game. The Spartans came within two points twice, but Rosary went on mini-runs to maintain the lead. The match ended on an Emily Weber kill.

"This was amazing for her," Kus said of Emily Weber.

"It was really fun," Emily Weber added. "This is what I play volleyball for. It was just a really good match."