Royals in search of crowns

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One thing is certain: It should be a battle royal.

The Class 3A Nazareth Academy Sectional title will be on the line at 7 p.m. today when Suburban Catholic Conference rivals Rosary and St. Francis meet for the third time this season.

"We lost and we won, so it's gonna be like a tiebreaker," said Royals senior outside hitter Lindsey Weber.

"And it really feels like payback for the last few years. Since I've been a freshman, they've knocked us out of the conference (title) twice. They've been our biggest rival."

And biggest nemesis.

Last year the Royals won both SCC matches on the way to a league championship, only to fall to the Spartans in a sectional final. Although St. Francis has had the Royals' number over the years, it was the first postseason meeting between the schools.

"Previously, they were in Class A and we were in Class AA," Rosary coach Lisa Kasper said. "Then when they moved up to AA, we went in different directions (in postseason play)."

At Somonauk, another group of Royals -- from Hinckley-Big Rock -- will battle for a Class 1A Sectional title as the area's only other remaining team alive in postseason play. Hinckley-Big Rock takes on Dwight.

While each team won at home, St. Francis figures to be the favorite in the matchup with Rosary. The Royals are playing in their eighth straight sectional but have only one such title in school history (1978).

Kopec's Spartans, who have won eight state championships, are playing in their 19th straight sectional and 25th in 27 years.

Asked for a scouting report on the matchup, Glenbard South coach Sherry Hudson offered a prediction Tuesday after her Raiders were dispatched 25-8, 25-20 by Rosary in a sectional semifinal.

"I think I'm gonna give St. Francis the edge," she said. "And I'll say it will be in three games by scores of 23-25, 25-22, 25-22. The key for Rosary is stopping (St. Francis 6-foot-1-inch junior standout) Kelsey Robinson, and she's hard to stop.

"But they've got to have her number to some extent because they were able to split with them. But it's gonna be a knockdown, drag-out night.

"I just might have to be here to watch, even though it's hard to come back and watch matches like this when you're not in them."

Kasper just hopes her team comes out focused like it did in Monday's sectional semifinal.

"I'm not making any predictions," she said. "When we played them at our place, the first game we controlled. The second game, they killed us. And the third game, we walked all over them. Each team is capable of making mistakes. It could go either way."

Coach Don Watson and his Royals are in uncharted waters, having won the school's first volleyball regional title and first sectional match. But he knows one thing:

"We're gonna have to be at the top of our game," the ninth-year coach said.

Hinckley-Big Rock beat Morgan Park Academy 25-16, 25-22 after Dwight knocked off Little Ten Conference champ Newark 25-21, 25-23 in the earlier semifinal at Somonauk. The Norsemen beat the Royals in two games in their only meeting this season.

"They've got two dominant big players," Watson said of Dwight. "One, their middle, is 6-1 or 6-2 and a strong girl. She is flat out a power hitter. They also have another outside hitter who can jump and is another strong hitter.

"We'll have our hands full. We don't match up as well hittingwise, but defensively and blockingwise, we may."

He said he may have 6-4 Melissa Herrmann shadow Dwight's middle hitter.

The Royals are 19-14-2 and set a school season record for wins with Tuesday's victory.