St. Charles East outlasts Rosary

Kyla Augustine had had enough drama for one night.

"Basically, I just didn't want to go to three (sets)," the St. Charles East senior said.

Monday night in Aurora, the Saints' girls volleyball team rallied twice from 6-point first- and second-game deficits against Rosary.

But the Royals were equally resilient, twice forcing overtime.

St. Charles East sophomore Megan Schildmeyer ended the first game with one of her team-best-matching 7 kills, and Rosary had back-to-back hitting errors in the nightcap.

The Saints escaped the nonconference match with a 29-27 and 27-25 victory as a result.

"Rosary is very good," said Augustine, who also had 7 kills for the Saints. "We couldn't slack off. We couldn't play mediocre."

Rosary (4-5) opened the second set with 6 straight points, only to see the Saints (9-1) seize the momentum with 16 of the following 21 points.

Augustine had consecutive kills during the sequence, and Morgan Windau followed the back-to-back winners with an ace.

Michaela Ping continued to make her presence felt, however, for the Royals.

The middle hitter, who had 5 kills and a match-best 5 blocks, refused to allow her team to wilt against St. Charles East.

Duplicating the multiple game points St. Charles East overcame in the opening set, Rosary once against forced extra points to be played.

But St. Charles East never trailed after taking a 9-8 lead; the match ended in disappointing fashion for Rosary with a failed serve and a kill attempt that sailed wide.

"I really wanted that (match)," Ping said. "Even though we lost, I think it's going to help us moving forward. It was very good that we held our own."

"(Ping) played a great game," Rosary coach Rachel Hartmann said. "She was making smart decisions out there."

Rosary had a quick start out of the gate in the opening set as well by scoring 10 of the first 14 points.

But St. Charles East defensive specialist Caroline McKeighan had five straight service points after the Saints' Riley Schumacher had a sideout with a block.

Neither team would lead by more than 2 points for the remaining 36 serves.

St. Charles East had to stave off three game points after Rosary scored three consecutive points to take a 25-24 lead.

But following a Ping kill that gave Rosary a 27-26 advantage, Schildmeyer capped the first game after consecutive kills by Shumacher.

"That first game, there was a lot of energy (by both teams)," Schildmeyer said. "Whoever picked up the win would definitely have the energy in the next game. (The winning kill) was fantastic."

Schildmeyer also had a team-high 10 assists; the Saints' Anna Hughes (14) and Chloe Rojas (8) combined for 22 digs.

The Royals' Erin Burke complemented Ping with 6 kills and 11 digs.

Rosary libero Martha Konovodoff had a match-high 16 digs and a pair of aces.