Inspired effort lifts Aurora Central Catholic past Montini

There were some heavy hearts and plenty of distractions, but that didn't stop the Aurora Central Catholic volleyball team from playing one of its better matches of the year Monday night.

Hosting Montini in a key Suburban Christian Conference battle while also hosting its second annual "Dig for the Cure" event to help raise breast cancer awareness, the Chargers stayed atop the smaller SCC division by sweeping the Broncos 25-16, 25-12 to improve to 14-7 overall and 4-1 in league play.

The proceeds from Monday's event, which featured a raffle, silent auction and plenty of pink uniforms, headbands and wristbands sported by both players and fans, will go to Receptions for Research, The Greg Olsen Foundation, named after the Chicago Bears tight end whose mother Susan is an eight-year survivor of breast cancer. Greg's brother Chris Olsen, the executive director of the foundation, was on hand to talk about the group and about breast cancer, and donated a football autographed by the Bears tight end to add to the silent auction.

"I had a teammate pass away to cancer," ACC coach Jeanne Czipri said after her team's impressive showing. "This match means a lot to a lot of different people."

It held special significance to Chargers sophomore Katilyn Rosa, who lost her mother to cancer the previous night and still came out and played in the sophomore match. "It was for the cause," Czipri said. "What better night to play in honor of her mother than tonight."

The Chargers, who needed three games to defeat Montini earlier this year, were sharp throughout the match, passing well and allowing sophomore setter Natalie Steinwart (11 assists) to get a variety of players involved in the attack. Vivian Fitzgerald led the way with 6 kills for ACC, but three other players had 4 kills apiece.

"Every game's been getting better and better," said Fitzgerald, a senior transfer from St. Francis. "Our confidence has gone up a lot and this is getting exciting."

The Chargers stormed ahead 12-4 in Game 1 following an ace by Steinwart and a kill from Fitzgerald. A pair of Rachel Miller winners closed out the opener, then ACC went right back to work and built leads of 6-1, 11-5 and 18-11 on its way to completing the sweep.

"We really picked up our level of play and I think we played with a lot of heart and dedication," said Miller, who had 4 kills. "We really had the passion tonight."

The Broncos (11-13, 4-3) were led by Kristin Burger (3 kills) and Taylor Spadoni (1 kill, 2 aces), but coach Shafeeqa Small was not impressed with her team's play compared to its solid showing last week against St. Francis. "We really didn't execute as a team. Coming off last week's match this was a let down," Long said. "We spent a lot of tonight back on our heels."