Volleyball: Ottawa overcomes slow start, tops Plano in 2 sets

OTTAWA — The Ottawa volleyball team got off to a slow start in Thursday night’s nonconference match with Plano at Kingman Gymnasium.

But then the Pirates found their rhythm.

[ Photos: Plano vs Ottawa volleyball ]

Trailing by a point in the first set, Ottawa senior Ryleigh Stevenson served a pair of aces and scored a kill from the back row as the hosts closed out the set winning 15 of the final 18 points. Then in the second set, senior libero Reese Burgwald broke an early tie with a 12-point service run which included a trio of aces to help the Pirates to a 25-14, 25-15 victory over the Reapers.

“It’s been a while for sure,” said Burgwald when asked the last time she’d had that many service points in a row. “Plano had two girls close together and one kind of hiding back behind them, so I was just trying to put my serve in between them all. Once it started working, I just stuck with it.”

“We got off to a slow start for sure and I’m not sure why. I don’t know if there was necessarily a certain play or point that got us going, I think we all just collectively in our heads said, ‘It’s time to get things going.’ I feel like we have a strong team with a good defense and good hitters, but tonight it just took us a little while to all get into the flow.”

“Every team is going to have nights when things don’t click like you would hope right off the bat, but I don’t worry too much about this group because I’m very confident in their abilities and they have the experience to work things out.”

—  Jenn Crum, Ottawa volleyball coach

Ottawa middle hitter Addison Duggan had six kills, while middle Chey Joachim added four kills and four digs. Stevenson had five service points and two kills, Olivia Evola had seven assists, and Sylar Dorsey had nine points and six assists. Burgwald recorded a team-best eight digs, five aces and 13 points.

“Reece is right, we just had a slow start to the first set,” Ottawa coach Jenn Crum said, her squad now 5-1 on the season. “I think we were down a point midway through, and Ryleigh Stevenson stepped up and served a couple of aces and had a kill from the back row that got us going. Every team is going to have nights when things don’t click like you would hope right off the bat, but I don’t worry too much about this group because I’m very confident in their abilities and they have the experience to work things out.

“Our middle hitters are really leading this team right now. They are not only doing well statically, but they are becoming another weapon for our offense. They are also serving aces and digging balls in the back row which gives everyone on the team a lift. They are just playing really well right now and it’s fun to watch.”

Plano (2-8) started the opening set strong, getting a block and two aces from Rita Lauro, a pair of kills from Aleksa Martinez and another winning swing from Hennessy Pena to hold an 11-10 advantage before Stevenson’s five-point service burst.

“We had a really competitive summer league where girls were fighting to be on varsity, then we came out in our first match of the season strong in a win over Sandwich, but since then I feel we’ve taken a steps backward,” Plano coach Brittany Hill said. “Even though the score might not reflect it, I saw that team tonight I saw before the last nine matches, one that is fighting hard for every point and having fun. There was a bounce in everyone’s step that had been missing, but I saw it again tonight, so hopefully that continues.

“Hennessy was brought up to varsity after we had an injury and she’s improving every match and I really thought she’d played well tonight.”

Ottawa is back in action on Saturday at the Rochelle Invite. Plano is off until next Wednesday when it travels to play Woodstock in a Kishwaukee River Conference match.