ROCHELLE — Tough blocking by the Geneseo Maple Leafs made it difficult for the Rochelle varsity volleyball team to find its rhythm on offense Tuesday evening.

The Lady Hubs took the court looking to close out conference play on a high note, but the purple and white were unable to upend the Maple Leafs, who took both games on Tuesday to beat the Lady Hubs, who lost 19-25, 15-25 to finish the regular season 14-20-1 overall and 3-5 in the Northern Illinois Big 12 West.

Rochelle will have roughly one week to prepare for its postseason opener next Monday, when the fifth-seeded Lady Hubs take on No. 10 seed Stillman Valley in the IHSA Class 3A Regional Quarterfinals at Dixon High School. The match will begin at 6:30 p.m.

“We didn’t get the win tonight but there was a lot of want from our girls,” head coach Molly Sly said. “There was a lot of fight, so we’re just hoping that we want it a little more on Monday.”

Rochelle began the first game on Tuesday with a 6-3 run before Geneseo rallied for four unanswered points. Senior Emma Mehrings hit one of her team-high six kills to tie the game at 7-7, but the Maple Leafs controlled the front line throughout most of the match. Geneseo went on a 9-3 run behind several blocked shots to take a commanding 16-10 lead.

“They definitely covered up the net well,” Sly said. “We were trying to get our middles going a little more to hold their middle blocker off and get our outside hitters and right sides more of an open net. But they did a great job of getting to their blocks.”

Junior Katie Van Hise helped Rochelle creep back into the first game, earning one kill and one block to cut the Geneseo lead to 20-17. The Maple Leafs finished the game on a 5-2 run before beginning the second game on a 5-1 run with more big blocks from their tall front line. Geneseo led the second game 17-9 before some strong serves from sophomore Clare Green, who totaled 17 assists, made it a 17-12 game.

Key digs by seniors Emily Engelkes and Sarah Craven, who combined for 29 digs in the match, helped Rochelle fight back late in the second game. Geneseo led 21-25 before taking the final four points to win the match. Craven recorded a team-high 21 digs for the Lady Hubs while Engelkes and Green each had eight digs.

“Sarah really took control of the back row and she passed the ball extremely well,” Sly said. “We can really get our front row going and we’re really able to run our offense when Sarah passes the ball well. We’re able to get more girls moving in different directions. I thought she really stepped up tonight.”