Girls volleyball: Rosary rallies past Geneva

Rosary didn't start well Thursday night at Geneva, but the Royals made sure to keep their heads up.

After dropping the first set 25-17, Rosary responded with 26-24 and 25-23 victories in the final two sets to pick up a nonconference victory.

"I think we started working as a team," Rosary senior Alyssa Nesterowicz said. "It's what we are working on since day one and that's what showed the last two games. And we shook off our mistakes. We tend to ponder and contemplate when we make a mistake and that's what we didn't do the last two games. We shook them off, we continued to play our game, and we won because of it."

Nesterowicz led Rosary with 9 kills.

"We are counting on her," Rosary coach Bill Allen said. "She looked good today. She played back row for the first time. She stepped up in a big way today."

After winning the opening set, Geneva (6-4) was in position to make it a quick night with a 16-12 lead in game two. Annika Pickard's kill out of a timeout temporarily slowed the Vikings, but they still led 19-16 after Abigail Lemen tooled a ball off Rosary's block.

The Royals responded with an 8-2 run to take a 24-21 lead on another kill by Pickard. Geneva fought off two set points before Caylee Sharkey's blast won the set.

Rosary (3-6) took a big lead in the third set, up as much as 15-8 on Molly Mulvey's winner. Geneva answered with an 11-4 surge to even the set at 19.

Nesterowicz restored momentum for the Royals with back-to-back kills, and moments later she knocked a shot off Geneva's block for a 24-22 lead. Rosary won the match when Geneva hit wide.

"I've been struggling lately and I tend to get down on myself and this game I was finally in the groove again and got that momentum back," Nesterowicz said.

Jessica Gardella set 14 assists and Paige Gardella had 11 assists.

"We finally figured it out," Allen said. "We've been working on defense in practice. The captains inspire the girls and they do a great job of it."

Grace Hinchman led Geneva with 17 digs. Piper Drazek set 12 assists and Anna Loberg had 11.

"They (Rosary) fought back," Geneva coach Anne Seitelman said. "They took us out of our groove a little. Our confidence went down a little and they took that momentum into the third set."

Eli Ford paced a balanced Geneva offense with 7 kills, Rose McCormick had 6 and Rachel Silvestri and Emma Davine both added 5.

"We are going to have to share that load this year," Seitelman said. "Making sure everyone gets involved and stays active. Because when we rely on one or two people we are going to struggle."