Girls Volleyball: St. Edward scores SCC Blue triumph
By Gene Chamberlain For Sun-Times Media September 10, 2012 9:22PM
St. Edward's Katie Swanson (right) hits into Aurora Christian's Faith Montalbano on Monday in Elgin. | Andrew A. Nelles~For Sun-Times Media
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Updated: October 12, 2012 6:16AM
While St. Edward’s volleyball team has been trying to get used to playing both 6-2 and 5-1 offenses, roller-coaster rides have been common.
The Green Wave finished on an up note in one of those wild matches Monday, with big points in the final set from Rena Ranallo, Katie Swanson and Shannon Igielski in a 25-20, 23-25, 25-22 Suburban Christian Blue victory over visiting Aurora Christian.
“I think we just pulled it together,” said Igielski, who finished with seven kills, including three of the Green Wave’s final eight points in the match and the final point of the first set. “Sometimes we get a little shaky, I think.”
St. Edward roared back from a 9-2 deficit in the final set, but the teams were tied at 22 when Ranallo delivered a low-angled, cross-court hit for her ninth and last kill. Then Swanson made it a 24-22 lead with her seventh kill of the night.
Match point came on an out-of-bounds Aurora Christian hit.
Along the way, St. Edward overcame two deficits in the first set, lost a 23-20 lead in the second set, and lost 17-13, 21-18 and 22-20 leads in the third set before winning.
“We’re still learning, I guess,” St. Edward coach Jaime Dovichi said. “Even though we’re 7-7 now (2-0 in SCC Blue), you’d think we’d have it together. But we’re still trying different lineups, different positions. So we’ll see what we got.”
In the last set, the rally from a 9-2 deficit was fueled by two Swanson kills and Ranallo’s serving.
“They just buckled down,” Dovichi said. “We got some good passes and were able to turn the offense a little bit and chipped away and let them make mistakes.”
Mallory Gross had 28 assists and three aces for the Green Wave, while Ranallo and Allison Kruk made 11 digs each.
Aurora Christian (2-8, 0-2) had a strong night at the net from senior middle Faith Montalbano. She finished with 18 kills. She had two huge kills during a rally that stretched over the final five points of the second set, forcing a third set.
“Her front row play has been awesome this season,” Aurora Christian coach Allison Kingsbury said. “Her blocking the last three games has really improved. So she’s been dominant.”
Aurora Christian had seven kills from Jamie Gebauer, 15 digs from Makayla Beebe and 13 digs from Montalbano.
