Girls volleyball: West is best in three sets with EG
It was the first match of the season for Maine West's girls volleyball team and the Warriors didn't waste any time showing character Tuesday.
Despite dropping the first set to visiting Elk Grove, they charged back in the next two tough sets to prevail 22-25, 25-21, 25-20 behind 6-foot-1 senior Jessica Riedl's team-high 13 kills.
"We're fighters, that's what you've got to do," said Riedl, who has received offers to play collegiate volleyball. "It was awesome. It's always nice to be able to start with a winning record."
The Warriors finally got the victory by scoring 7 of the last 9 points.
A kill by Riedl broke the 18-18 tie and classmate Sophia Saldana followed with a service point for a 20-18 lead.
A nifty second attack by Elk Grove senior setter Jalyssa Mercado got the Grens to within 21-20 before West scored the final 4 points, getting kills from junior Reilly Olson and sophomore Angela Dugalic for the 22nd and 24th points.
Olson finished with 6 kills and 10 digs while senior Amanda Grzebien had a team-high 11 digs. Junior setter Ally Block handed out 13 assists while senior Christy Kolosvary and Saldana each served a pair of aces.
"We changed into a 6-2 offense and some of our least-experienced players came in and did what they had to do," Riedl added. "That made all the difference."
The crowd made a difference, too.
"It was a fun first match," said Warriors coach Mike Cott. "The crowd was electric. It was hard to speak to each other out there, so that was a good learning experience. Hopefully, it's something we will be able to grow from and get a little thicker-skinned and tougher. We made a lot of what hopefully were uncharacteristic mistakes. We didn't serve particularly well, or passed well. Or you name it."
The top names on Elk Grove's attack were Johanna Duckmann (4 kills) and Megan Slattery (3). Rachel Kandefer was tough at the net with her 3 blocks while Megan Murray collected 11 digs.
West defeated EG in two sets in last year's season opener.
"It's always such a good rivalry," said Elk Grove coach Stephanie Kezios. "I feel this was one of our most competitive matches with them the last few years. I was really proud to say we went three games. One of our parents even came up to me and said 'that was so entertaining.' The fact that the girls hung in there and made it competitive for three games makes us really proud. It was a fun way to start the season with a lot of energy."
The Grenadiers started without their returning setter Lexi Chirbas, due to her grandfather's death one day earlier.
"It was very emotional for Lexi and we were very proud to play in her honor tonight," Kezios said. "The girls really wanted to win it for her. Hopefully, she will be back Thursday when we play St. Viator and we'll be happy to have her back. She put in a lot of work during the off-season."
Mercado collected 3 assists and helped turn around Game 1 with her serve. She stepped to the line with her team trailing 19-16 and served the Grens into a 23-19 lead getting 3 aces along the way.
"We'll run a 6-2 offense with Jalyssa and Lexi," Kezios said. "Jalyssa's serving looked awesome tonight and I thought her defense was really good. And Meg (Murray) is our libero and a sophomore, and we're really excited about the way she played tonight and her potential."
The Warriors found themselves in a close Game 2 the entire way. They trailed 21-20 but received the final 5 service points from Saldana, including an ace to end it at 25-21.
Junior Kaylin Johnson also gave the hosts a boost in Game 2.
"Playing a defensive specialist role, she came in with a lot of energy, had a couple of nice digs and couple of nice passes on serve receive," Cott said. "Coming in and doing that in her first varsity action was a big boost for us.
"Angela (Dugalic) is going to be somebody we hope can pick up some steam as we go on. It was also her first varsity action. She's huge (6-foot-3 sophomore, who was also a basketball talent last winter as a freshman). She's got a great frame but she needs a little bit of experience. She started to smile and showed a little more confidence in that third game so hopefully this will be a building block for her moving forward."
Trying to block the hard-hitting Riedl was a tough task for EG.
"Jessica is always very good," Cott said. "So when we were successful getting her the ball, that was effective. We've just got to do a better job of getting her the ball."
Cott liked what he saw from his younger players Tuesday.
"We wanted to get their feet wet," he said. "We wanted to shake some of the rust off and get some of younger players a little battled tested in their first varsity experiences. We expected a little bit of sloppiness. It was a little more than I expected but it's a start."
A winning start.
"The character was there and they fought," Cott said. "The crowd was awesome. I loved this atmosphere."
"Maine West has a couple of very tough competitors for us," Kezios said. " We were forced to give them a few points but I was really proud of our girls and how they played smart offensively."