Rock Falls downs Eastland in two sets

ROCK FALLS – The Rock Falls volleyball team got down and dirty with its defense, and that was enough to handle Eastland on Saturday morning in a battle of two of the area’s top programs.

The Rockets were in control most of the way and posted a 25-12, 25-19 victory against the Cougars in Tabor Gymnasium.

“Our defense was great, in my opinion, and we all talked about that after,” junior setter Cadence Stonitsch said. “We were just really on, and we worked really good as a team today.”

Rock Falls (3-0) led just 12-10 in the opening set, but closed with a 13-2 run. Claire Bickett had two kills, while Maya Sands had a kill and an ace in that span. Eastland (2-1) didn’t help itself with five hitting errors – a trend that continued into the second set.

“Not to take it away from Rock Falls because they have some big swing, but we made a lot of errors,” Eastland coach Kelsey Thurman said. “We made a lot of unforced errors on our attacks, and hit a lot of balls out of bounds. We had 6 to 8 missed serves, and you can’t do that against an aggressive team like Rock Falls. You’ve got to put the ball in their court and make them play the ball.”

Set 2 was much more competitive as neither team had more than a 3-point advantage until Rock Falls seized control late. A Stonitsch kill put Rock Falls up 19-16, and that was followed by two kills from Sands to up the margin to 21-16, and Thurman called a timeout.

Out of the break, a hitting error by the Cougars was followed by a Sands kill to make the score 23-17. The teams then traded kills, with the final one by the Rockets’ Mallory Pinske finishing things off.

Sands led the way for Rock Falls with nine kills, six digs and two aces. She was backed by Cara Goff with six digs and four kills, Bickett with five kills, and Haylee Herrera with 11 digs. Denali Stonitsch (10) and Cadence Stonitsch (8) combined for 18 assists.

For Rock Falls coach Sheila Pillars, some huge plays came early in the form of blocks by Pinske.

“We set the tone right away coming out and getting those couple of blocks right away,” Pillars said. “It shut down their hitters in that first set. They couldn’t get it going. They were hitting balls out left and right. I thought we set that tone immediately, and it carried over into the second set.

“My defense is always scrappy. That’s what I preach all of the time, and they didn’t let many balls drop. Eastland, I thought, was getting a little frustrated, and then by the time we got Maya to the front row, I just said, ‘Set her.’ She just kept putting it away, and that’s what we needed.”

For Eastland, Karlie Krogman had six kills, Addison Burkholder had five kills and 13 digs, Chloe Sweitzer had 12 digs, Natalie Hughes had 18 assists and seven digs, and Cropper added three kills.

Star of the match: Maya Sands, Rock Falls, 9 kills, 6 digs, 2 aces

Key performers: DAnali Stonitsch, Rock Falls, 10 assists; Addison Burkholder, Eastland, 5 kills, 13 digs

Up next: Eastland at Fulton, 5 p.m. Monday; Rock Falls at Rockford Christian, 6:30 p.m. Tuesday