Girls Volleyball: Rosary defeats Chicago Christian
By Tony Baranek tbaranek@southtownstar.com October 1, 2012 11:20PM
Updated: November 3, 2012 6:15AM
When Chicago Christian beat Rosary in three sets Sept. 5, the Knights were strong on blocking and ready in the back row for just about anything the Royals threw at them.
Rosary did some adjusting for the Monday’s rematch.
“We really focused on covering and working with different shots,” Royals outside hitter Erin Bowe said after a 26-24, 25-17 conquest that became more convincing as the match went on.
Bowe finished with six kills and six digs, Briana Flagg eight kills and five digs, Katie Baki 13 digs and Josephine Gallagher 15 assists as Rosary improved to 17-8 overall and 4-2 in the Suburban Christian Blue.
Chicago Christian (17-9, 3-3) was led by Emily Lindemulder (8 kills), Jessica Krygsheld (5 kills), Leah Kamp (4 blocks), Sami Bruinius (8 digs) and Emily Workman (15 assists).
Two of the smartest — and important — hits for Rosary came back to back by Flagg and Bowe. They erased what had been a 24-23 Knights lead in Set 1. It was the only lead of the set for Chicago Christian, which rallied from as many as five points down.
Defensively, the Royals were sharp in picking up most of Chicago Christian’s shots to the middle and back court. And when Rosary wasn’t frustrating the Knights with its digs, the Knights frustrated themselves with inconsistent serving.
Eleven Knights serves either went into the net or out of bounds. That statistic, more than any other, drew the most ire from coach James Garcia.
“You know, the girls had Homecoming on Saturday,” he said. “But that’s not an excuse to come in on a Monday and miss as many serves as we missed.
“Rosary, we thought this year we matched up pretty well with them. And having beaten them on the road, I thought tonight for sure we could have come in here and done well. Serving is the first line. If you can’t keep the ball in play on the serve, you can’t play the ball out.”
