Girls volleyball: St. Francis holds off Rosary

St. Francis continued its girls volleyball mastery over Rosary Tuesday night.

But the Royals (17-9) made things tantalizingly close against the 4-time defending state champion Spartans (24-6).

St. Francis rallied from a 21-15 deficit and fought off a Rosary match point before scoring the final 3 points during its 25-22, 21-25, 27-25 victory before a spirited Spike Out Cancer Night crowd in Aurora.

Back-to-back finesse kills from senior Laney Malloy sealed the decision as the Spartans pocketed their 16th consecutive victory over Rosary.

"Changing it up - that's like my key move," said Malloy, who recorded a match-high 12 kills. "It works every time."

For a long while in the decisive third set, nothing seemed to be working for the Spartans.

Two straight net violations by the Spartans and a middle kill by junior Maya Sullivan extended the Royals' lead to 21-15.

After a kill by senior Cat Wilson (5 kills), Jessica McCall delivered a block and kill to cut the deficit to 21-18.

Back-to-back aces from junior Maddy Wilkens and Wilson's kill off a crosscourt set from setter Alexia Byrnes-Hosey (26 assists) tied the score at 21-21.

"That was interesting," said Malloy. "I didn't want it to be that way but I'm really proud of us for coming back in that third set. (Down 21-15) That's really hard to come back from."

Looking for its first win over St. Francis in nearly 8 years (Oct. 9, 2008), Rosary showed its own resiliency after losing the opening set.

Clinging to a 21-20 lead in the second set, the Royals scored 4 of the next 5 points, capped by Lauren Brummel's tip kill, to force a third set.

A superb middle attack, keyed by Sullivan (11 kills) and Meegan Hart (10 kills, 2 aces), helped keep the Royals competitive throughout the night.

"Rosary's middles are incredible," said Spartans coach Lisa Ston. "We finally were able to dig a couple balls they hit and turned the game around for us."

Outside hitter Erin Burke had 11 kills while setter Julia Gauthier added 31 assists for the Royals, who hurt their own cause with 6 service errors in the third set - including one that tied the score at 25-25.

"It's a hard line to cross because you don't want them (serves) to be too easy because it's the same thing as a missed serve at times," said Rosary coach Rachel Fox.

"I'm happy with our middles because we've been pushing that for a while. We know they can do it. They had as many kills as my outsides. Maya (Sullivan) had an outstanding night - probably the best she has played."

It wasn't Rosary's first heartbreaking loss this season.

"Unfortunately, we've had a few matches like this where we were so close at the end," said Fox. "I don't think we believe yet that we should be winning those games."

Courtney Kozak, McCall and Wilkens added 3 kills apiece for the Spartans.

"At this time of year, you're looking for great competition and that's exactly what we got tonight," said Ston.