EDDYVILLE —
The 14th-ranked Rockets (Class 2A) from Eddyville-Blakesburg-Fremont more than lived up to their ranking, as they controlled the tempo and dominated the play at the net, to pick up a 3-0 South Central Conference win over Davis County in volleyball action Tuesday night in Eddyville. The game scores were 25-13, 25-12 and 25-18.
Was this a dominating performance?
“I don’t know if I’d say that,” said E-B-F coach Gladys Genskow. “I was surprised that our serving and net play controlled them that much.”
When you’re playing on the road against a big rival, it’s immportant for a young inexperienced team to get off to a good start. The Mustangs did just that. An ace serve by Megan Joos gave the Mustangs a 7-1 lead.
The early momentum was quickly reversed with Shunyl Busch serving for the Rockets. When Busch gave up the serve, E-B-F led 10-7.
“I’ve been working on ball placement,” said Busch. “This is my best year serving.”
Busch would be 17-for-17 serving in the match.
Helping to fuel the Rocket comeback was the play of freshman McKinley Moore. She had five of her match high 10 blocks as E-B-F built the lead to 17-10.
“I’ve gotten got lots of reps in practice,” said Moore. “I only play front row, so that’s a big part of what I need to get done.”
A seven-point service run by Karlie Taylor and play at the net by Tasha Alexander extended the lead to 21-10. Alexander had another kill as the Rockets closed out the win.
The Rockets led for nearly all of game two and the difference in the power stats (hitting & blocking) was really evident. E-B-F had 10 kills and 10 blocks in the game.
“We’re still playing a lot of the game out of system,” said DC coach Marty Barnett. “Not being able to pass to the target hurts our hitting.”
“We don’t really focus on a power game, but we look to pass the ball well, and that sets up our attacking,” added Genskow.
Moore had three early kills to gave the Rockets a 14-7 lead. Alexander had a six-point service run and the E-B-F lead grew to 22-10. During the run, Taylor — another of the Rocket freshmen — had three kills in a span of six points. She would lead the Rockets with seven kills in the match.
“I try and play a power game and I look for big hits,” said Taylor. “Our setter (Paige Shafer) gives me a chance to really swing with her sets.”
Back-to-back kills from Mustang Rylee Eakins closed the lead to 10 at 22-12 but three points later, the Rockets were up 2-0.
An Eakins kill gave the Mustangs an early 6-2 lead in game three. Soon after, Harlie Boyer led the Rockets to an 11-6 lead by serving eight points. Back to back kills by Eakins pulled the Mustangs to within three.
E-B-F led 19-14 before the Mustangs again closed to within three on a block winner by Eakins. The Rockets would outscore the visitors 6-2 and close out the match.
“I think our floor coverage was realy good tonight,” said Genskow. “A couple of communication errors are things that we can correct.”
The Rockets (19-3, 3-0) will next play Tuesday night at Albia. It will be a full month since they have lost a match when they take the floor. Davis County (7-10, 2-1) will be in action Saturday in the Burlington Tournament.
E-B-F 25-25-25
Davis County 13-12-18
Davis County Statistics
Serving — Kate Birchmier 7/8, Joos 12/14, Shelby Graves 11/11, Eakins 2/4, Lauren Lynch 2/4, Janel fenton 2/2, Caden Dixon 2/2. Team —38/45 . Aces — Joos 2. Team — 2.
Hitting — Lynch 16/19, Joos 20/22, Eakins 23/26, Birchmier 12/15, Graves 1/2, Cami Guiter 0/1, Fenton 1/1, McKenna Harward 2/2 . Team —75/88 . Kills — Lynch, Eakins 6, Birchmier. Team — 8.
Setting — Graves 12. Team — 15.
Blocks — Lynch 2, Eakins 6, Birchmier 3. Team — 11.
Digs — Joos 12, Graves 11. Team — 56.
Eddyville-Blakesburg-Fremont Statistics
Serving — Alexander 11/13, Busch 17/17, Boyer 16/17, Taylor 13/14, Amanda Ratliff 6/6, Shafer 5/6. Team —68/73 . Aces — Alexander 2, Busch, Boyer, Taylor 2. Team —6.
Hitting — Busch 12/13, Taylor 27/31, Alexander 20/26, Moore 11/12, Sadie Baugher 10/11. Team —80/93 . Kills — Busch, Tayloor 7, Alexander 2, Moore 4, Baugher. Team — 15.
Setting — Shafer 20. Team — 24.
Blocks — Busch 5, Taylor 3, Alexander 2, Moore 10, Baugher 2. Team — 22.
Digs — Ratliff 12. Team — 35.
Sports
September 18, 2012
14th-ranked Rockets sweep Davis County
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