Volleyball: Newman gets rolling in TRAC East win over Kewanee

STERLING – The Newman volleyball team started strong in the first set, then pulled away in the second for a 25-15, 25-14 win over Kewanee on Tuesday night in a Three Rivers East match in Sterling.

The Comets (14-2, 7-0) jumped out to a 9-3 lead thanks to four kills from Ally Clevenger, another from Katie Grennan, and an ace by Jessalin Johns. A Johns kill and Kewanee hitting error stretched the margin to 11-4, then another Johns kill made it 13-5 Newman.

“Our passing was really good tonight, and I think that’s how we got that big lead,” Clevenger said. “Everything was just clicking, and we were playing really well.

Kewanee fought back, with kills from Mayra Diaz and Emma Crofton and three straight Newman hitting errors to get within 13-10.

But a Clevenger kill got the Comets back out in front 15-10, then another Clevenger kill and a Kennedy Rowzee kill made it 17-12 before a Kewanee hitting error forced a Boilermaker timeout with Newman ahead 18-12.

“That was one thing we talked about going into the second half of conference, and especially tonight, was being focused and coming out right away and making our statement right from the beginning of the match, and then carrying it on through,” Newman coach Debbi Kelly said. “I thought we did a good job of that; we just had that one spot where we made some errors and weren’t passing the ball well and not getting anything set up and we were hitting long.

“When Kewanee called the timeout, we talked about that; that’s the part we can’t have happen, is serving runs by the other team. If we make a mistake, we need to come back on the next one and keep that ball in play. We’ve just got to keep working on not allowing those runs.”

Katie Grennan served an ace out of the timeout, then a Kewanee error was followed by two more Clevenger kills for a 22-12 lead.

Rowzee then spiked a kill and put down an overpass for a 24-13 lead. The Boilers got a back-row kill from libero Emily Eggimann, then an ace from Nevyah Lewis before a hitting error closed out the set.

The second set saw Kewanee grab a 5-3 lead, but Newman answered. Rozee’s kill started a string of six straight Comets points, as Johns took care of an overpass and then spiked another kill to end the run and give Newman a 9-5 lead.

Rowzee’s block made it 10-6, then Katie Grennan’s dump kill made it 11-7 before another Johns kill and a Shae McNeill ace forced a Kewanee timeout with the Comets up 13-7.

“Honestly, it was just about keeping out mentality the same,” said Katie Grennan about seeing Kewanee for the second time this season. “We did know how they play, and we made adjustments coming into the match, and along the way throughout the match as well.”

Another McNeill ace made it 16-7, then Zoey Bulfer spiked a kill and Rowzee stuffed a pair of blocks and added a kill to make it 20-12. Kills by Rowzee, Ashley Williamson and Clevenger down the stretch sealed the win, with Clevenger finishing things off with a back-row kill.

“Our back row calls out where to hit, and that helps a lot,” Clevenger said. “We’ve also been working on hitting a lot at practice this week, and it paid off.”

Clevenger led the way with 10 kills, and she also had six points and five digs. Rowzee added seven kills and a block, Johns had five kills, seven digs and four points, and Paige Grennan chipped in six digs. McNeill dished 11 assists and served five points, including the two aces, and Katie Grennan finished with 11 assists, two kills and six points.

“It was just about speeding up the setting, and just moving the set around,” Katie Grennan said. “Especially when our passes are literally perfect, it’s helping us a lot with getting a good set, and we can go anywhere with it because all of our hitters can put it down.”

Diaz, Rachel Brown and Makaela Salisbury led Kewanee with two kills each, Eggimann served five points, and Kendal Benninson dished six assists.