Immaculata came on strong in the finale of Tuesday night’s season-opening triangular, pulling away from rival Pleasant Ridge to take two double-digit wins (25-15 and 25-12) in the matchup and end the night with a 1-1 record. Despite some bright moments, Pleasant Ridge lost to both Immaculata and Jefferson County North, starting their year off 0-2.
Jefferson County North improved to 6-1 overall with the two wins at Immaculata on Tuesday.
In the first set against PR, Immaculata fell behind early, Haley Eastburn with a block and ace serve to help the Lady Rams jump on top 3-1. The teams traded blows through a 9-9 tie, when the Raiders got a pair of kills from Liz Todd to help turn the tables and take an 11-10 lead. Megan Nitchals added an ace right after, but a missed serve and another Eastburn ace tied the game back up. Molly Abbott would score the next three points, with a kill and two aces, giving the Raiders a lead they’d never again surrender.
Greer Fisher had two kills and stuff block in the final five points, helping seal the 25-15 first-set win.
It was Immaculata who took control early in the second set, going up 2-0 behind the serving of Maura Schmidling, but Pleasant Ridge fought back to tie the game at 4-4. A pair of miscues by the Rams helped give the green and white back the momentum though, and the Raiders led for the rest of the night. Three kills by Fisher, two kills and an ace by Jana Hochard, one kill each by Nitchals, Todd and Ailey Connelly and three consecutive aces by Schmidling helped finish off the second set 25-12.
“We want to get off to a good start, that’s always important,” Immaculata head coach Dan Schmidt said. “This is a good night for us because we ended on a very positive note I thought we played well through the whole night ... and now we know the things we need to work on. It also gives us confidence to know the things that we can do.”
With four sophomores — Hochard, Mary Thorne, Megan Abbott and Molly Abbott — playing significant roles for the Raiders, Schmidt said getting the experience of Tuesday night was a big boost.
“We’re a very young team, playing a lot of sophomores and some juniors too,” Schmidt said. “When you have youth you don’t know what to expect, especially against a team like JCN who came in here 4-1 after taking second at the Jeff West Invitational. Just getting used to who’s next to you, those kinds of things, we got better as the night went on. When they’re young like that the only way to go is up. We’re looking forward to the future.”
The Raiders started strong against JCN, a kill by Connelly sealing a 25-23 win in the first set. They continued to battle hard against the Chargers, never falling more than four points behind as they fought to a 27-25 loss in the second set. JCN turned up the heat in the third set, powering to a 25-20 win after Immaculata had tied the game at 20-all with the help of an ace serve by Schmidling.
One of the things Schmidt said he was most pleased by on the night was the balance the Lady Raiders showed.
“I thought they all played well, all nine who got in,” Schmidt said. “They all deserve credit, especially on the first night and opening up with JCN, the team who won the league last year. Everybody contributed.”
For the Raiders, Todd and Fisher both finished with 10 kills on the night and Hochard added eight kills. Schmidling led the way with five aces, Molly Abbott added three aces, Nitchals and Todd each serving up two aces and Megan Abbott and Hochard totaling one ace apiece. Connelly had two blocks and two kills, Nitchals had three kills and a block and Molly Abbott had one kill. Todd had one block in the two matches, as did Fisher.
In Pleasant Ridge’s matchup with JCN they also battled tough against the defending Delaware Valley League champs. PR stayed within four points of the Chargers in the first set, taking leads early on kills by Eastburn and Ashten Langley as well as an ace serve by Breann Holmes. Two timely Rams’ errors helped JCN finish off a 25-21 win.
The Lady Rams were undeterred though, coming back in the second set to go up 4-1 early. An Eastburn kill and Holmes ace started the rally and a stuff block by Ashten Langley combined with a JCN error to make it 4-1. They continued to build, going up 6-2 on a couple of out-of-bounds hits by the Chargers before JCN’s Jordan Kramer served her team back to an 11-7 lead. Holmes, Eastburn and Langley each had a kill in the remainder of the set, but JCN took a 25-19 win to seal the victory.
Although her team didn’t come away with any wins, first-year PR head coach Amy Bergman said she was pretty pleased with how they came out.
“I think they played very well,” Bergman said. “I saw lots of positive things and lots of things we need to work on. Overall I think the team played well. Communication we have to work on a little bit still, but as far as the play, we did well.”
Although some of the games got away from them, Bergman added that she was happy to see her girls right in the mix with both teams before falling.
“Maybe the scores didn’t reflect it, but I felt like we were playing right with them in many areas of volleyball,” Bergman said.
With a lot of new faces on the floor, she said, it was nice to see them adjust positively.
“This is the first games I got to see them in a game-situation playing together. A few people were out of position, so it was nice to see them step up somewhere they were necessarily comfortable and be able to handle that position,” Bergman said. “I look forward to the next time we get to take these two teams on.”
For PR, Eastburn led the charge with 13 kills, two aces and two blocks on the night. Langley and Adams chipped in five and three kills, respectively, and each had one block. Holmes had two aces and one kill in the triangular.
Both teams wait until next Tuesday to play, when Immaculata travels to Wyandotte for a triangular that also included Washington and Pleasant Ridge makes the trip to Kansas City Christian. After such a positive showing in their first night out, Schmidt said he’s just looking for his girls to continue their effective play.
“We just have to improve and keep getting better,” Schmidt said. “That’s what I told the girls, no matter what happens tonight, we have to make sure we get better because it’s all about the end of the year when we get to substate. We are getting better, we see it in practice and we saw it tonight.”
|
|
|
Immaculata came on strong in the finale of Tuesday night’s season-opening triangular, pulling away from rival Pleasant Ridge to take two double-digit wins (25-15 and 25-12) in the matchup and end the night with a 1-1 record. Despite some bright moments, Pleasant Ridge lost to both Immaculata and Jefferson County North, starting their year off 0-2.
Jefferson County North improved to 6-1 overall with the two wins at Immaculata on Tuesday.
In the first set against PR, Immaculata fell behind early, Haley Eastburn with a block and ace serve to help the Lady Rams jump on top 3-1. The teams traded blows through a 9-9 tie, when the Raiders got a pair of kills from Liz Todd to help turn the tables and take an 11-10 lead. Megan Nitchals added an ace right after, but a missed serve and another Eastburn ace tied the game back up. Molly Abbott would score the next three points, with a kill and two aces, giving the Raiders a lead they’d never again surrender.
Greer Fisher had two kills and stuff block in the final five points, helping seal the 25-15 first-set win.
It was Immaculata who took control early in the second set, going up 2-0 behind the serving of Maura Schmidling, but Pleasant Ridge fought back to tie the game at 4-4. A pair of miscues by the Rams helped give the green and white back the momentum though, and the Raiders led for the rest of the night. Three kills by Fisher, two kills and an ace by Jana Hochard, one kill each by Nitchals, Todd and Ailey Connelly and three consecutive aces by Schmidling helped finish off the second set 25-12.
“We want to get off to a good start, that’s always important,” Immaculata head coach Dan Schmidt said. “This is a good night for us because we ended on a very positive note I thought we played well through the whole night ... and now we know the things we need to work on. It also gives us confidence to know the things that we can do.”
With four sophomores — Hochard, Mary Thorne, Megan Abbott and Molly Abbott — playing significant roles for the Raiders, Schmidt said getting the experience of Tuesday night was a big boost.
“We’re a very young team, playing a lot of sophomores and some juniors too,” Schmidt said. “When you have youth you don’t know what to expect, especially against a team like JCN who came in here 4-1 after taking second at the Jeff West Invitational. Just getting used to who’s next to you, those kinds of things, we got better as the night went on. When they’re young like that the only way to go is up. We’re looking forward to the future.”
The Raiders started strong against JCN, a kill by Connelly sealing a 25-23 win in the first set. They continued to battle hard against the Chargers, never falling more than four points behind as they fought to a 27-25 loss in the second set. JCN turned up the heat in the third set, powering to a 25-20 win after Immaculata had tied the game at 20-all with the help of an ace serve by Schmidling.
One of the things Schmidt said he was most pleased by on the night was the balance the Lady Raiders showed.
“I thought they all played well, all nine who got in,” Schmidt said. “They all deserve credit, especially on the first night and opening up with JCN, the team who won the league last year. Everybody contributed.”
For the Raiders, Todd and Fisher both finished with 10 kills on the night and Hochard added eight kills. Schmidling led the way with five aces, Molly Abbott added three aces, Nitchals and Todd each serving up two aces and Megan Abbott and Hochard totaling one ace apiece. Connelly had two blocks and two kills, Nitchals had three kills and a block and Molly Abbott had one kill. Todd had one block in the two matches, as did Fisher.
In Pleasant Ridge’s matchup with JCN they also battled tough against the defending Delaware Valley League champs. PR stayed within four points of the Chargers in the first set, taking leads early on kills by Eastburn and Ashten Langley as well as an ace serve by Breann Holmes. Two timely Rams’ errors helped JCN finish off a 25-21 win.
The Lady Rams were undeterred though, coming back in the second set to go up 4-1 early. An Eastburn kill and Holmes ace started the rally and a stuff block by Ashten Langley combined with a JCN error to make it 4-1. They continued to build, going up 6-2 on a couple of out-of-bounds hits by the Chargers before JCN’s Jordan Kramer served her team back to an 11-7 lead. Holmes, Eastburn and Langley each had a kill in the remainder of the set, but JCN took a 25-19 win to seal the victory.
Although her team didn’t come away with any wins, first-year PR head coach Amy Bergman said she was pretty pleased with how they came out.
“I think they played very well,” Bergman said. “I saw lots of positive things and lots of things we need to work on. Overall I think the team played well. Communication we have to work on a little bit still, but as far as the play, we did well.”
Although some of the games got away from them, Bergman added that she was happy to see her girls right in the mix with both teams before falling.
“Maybe the scores didn’t reflect it, but I felt like we were playing right with them in many areas of volleyball,” Bergman said.
With a lot of new faces on the floor, she said, it was nice to see them adjust positively.
“This is the first games I got to see them in a game-situation playing together. A few people were out of position, so it was nice to see them step up somewhere they were necessarily comfortable and be able to handle that position,” Bergman said. “I look forward to the next time we get to take these two teams on.”
For PR, Eastburn led the charge with 13 kills, two aces and two blocks on the night. Langley and Adams chipped in five and three kills, respectively, and each had one block. Holmes had two aces and one kill in the triangular.
Both teams wait until next Tuesday to play, when Immaculata travels to Wyandotte for a triangular that also included Washington and Pleasant Ridge makes the trip to Kansas City Christian. After such a positive showing in their first night out, Schmidt said he’s just looking for his girls to continue their effective play.
“We just have to improve and keep getting better,” Schmidt said. “That’s what I told the girls, no matter what happens tonight, we have to make sure we get better because it’s all about the end of the year when we get to substate. We are getting better, we see it in practice and we saw it tonight.”
