Girls volleyball: Geneva finds answers vs. South Elgin
First matches of the season can be mysteries.
What is the best lineup, how well will new varsity players replace those that graduated and who to sub in at critical stages of the game are some of the unknowns.
Geneva founds solutions quickly Tuesday evening as the Vikings opened their 2019 campaign with a 25-11, 25-21 home nonconference win over South Elgin.
"First match of the season, you never really know what to expect," said Geneva coach Annie Seitelman. "We are trying different lineups, trying to see how this puzzle is all going to fit together. We've got a lot of kids that are versatile as far as positions. I'm real excited to see how this puzzle is all going to fit." The contest was also the first of the season for the Storm.
"We are very young, we have a lot to learn. This is the first match that these 10 girls have ever played together," South Elgin coach Joni Plach. "I have only one returning varsity starter so it's just getting out the kinks."
Geneva (1-0) dominated the first set from start to finish. Viking Devynn Day scored the match point with one of her eight kills.
"I think we did a really nice job of putting pressure on them from the service line in the first game. Our serves were kind of putting them out of system so they were giving us a lot of free ball opportunities," Seitelman said. "This early in the season, I was happy with where we are at in terms of executing. We were able to terminate those balls."
The second set was more competitive. Geneva appeared to be running away mid game with an 18-10 lead. The Storm (0-1) went on a 9-4 run to pull within 22-19 on a Viking hitting error. Geneva capitalized on Storm serving errors to win the set and the match.
"They got into the swing of things," Seitelman said. "They had that big surge at the end, gaining momentum so it was nice to see that we were able to stop that and close the door."
"We got a lot better in the second game. We might not have won the rallies but we were able to rally with them," said Plach. "We had a lot of rallies where we just didn't finish but we were hanging in there.
"They were very nervous. They just need to calm down. They were giving it their all but sometimes their motors are running too fast in their heads and they just got to calm down and take it down a notch. I think they did."
Mary McCormick and Cassidy Brown both had four kills for the Vikings. Classmate Anna Loberg had 14 assists. Senior Grace Hinchman tallied three aces and made 19 digs for Geneva.
Freshman Alyssa Worden notched seven kills and 13 digs for South Elgin. Four-year starter Angie Negron contributed three kills while teammate Allison Cunniffe set 13 assists.