Geneva beats Rosary, gets to sleep in
You've got to hand it to Geneva girls volleyball coach KC Johnsen when it comes to motivating his team.
How did he make sure the Vikings stayed sharp in Game 2 against Rosary Thursday night in Geneva?
Tell them a victory means no 5:30 a.m. practice Friday morning.
“After the first game we were pumped to hear we could have no practice tomorrow because early morning practice is not fun, Geneva senior Riley Sullivan said. “We really wanted to come out and win that second game.
That the Vikings did to finish off a 25-18, 25-16 victory, their second straight win after snapping a 9-game losing streak Saturday.
Sullivan got the match started singing the national anthem. It's the third time she's done it this year, though this one came as a surprise when she filled in at the last minute.
“I'm used to it but it was a surprise, Sullivan said. “I am really nervous every time. I'm not really a singer for other people, I only sing in choir.
The Vikings (18-11) played Thursday night like they did in starting the season 16-2, not like they have in the recent losing streak that ended in their final game of the Mizuno Cup Saturday with a win over Rockford Guilford.
The result was a long night for Rosary (23-10) and coach Lisa Kasper who declined to comment on the loss.
“We've definitely had a run of losses, Sullivan said. “We were really hungry for another win. We had a lot of energy.
“I don't know what it (the losing streak) was. We just weren't playing as well as we could have. I think we are back now.
Geneva jumped on Rosary early in both games. The Vikings scored the first five points of the night two coming on hitting errors and another passing error that proved to be an omen of Rosary's struggles. The Royals finished with 10 hitting errors in Game 1 and five more in Game 2.
“We were digging a few balls, Johnsen said. “You dig a few, you block a few, it seems like you get a few more errors. And I thought we were keeping them out of system, serving tough. You get a few more errors if you make them hit a tougher ball.
Rosary rallied from the 5-0 deficit with six straight points and built its biggest lead of the night at 11-7 on Marissa Prochaska's block and a poor Geneva serve-receive.
The Vikings answered Rosary's 11-2 run with an 8-0 burst to go ahead 15-11. Sullivan put away two balls during the surge.
Amelia Wegman's ace trimmed Geneva's lead to 15-14, the closest Rosary got. Geneva finished the game strong, ending it when the Royals again hit long.
Game 2 was never in doubt after Geneva opened with a 12-2 lead powered by 3 kills by Brooke Binette and setter Brooke Morphis and middle Ashley Boser executing a slide for another kill.
Melissa Hanika recorded the final point hitting off Rosary's block. She finished with 3 kills trailing Sullivan's 5 and Binette's match-high 12.
Morphis set 24 assists, Taylor Otto led in blocks with 3 and those digs that Johnsen mentioned came from Sullivan (14), Binette (13), Ashleigh Shain (12) and Holly Stimac (9).
Wegman led Rosary with 10 kills.
“I thought we focused pretty well and stayed focused because they (Rosary) have a lot of kids who know how to play volleyball, Johnsen said. “They are a pretty impressive volleyball program so we didn't want to ever back off. I was happy with the way we kept after it.