Girls volleyball: Fast start, strong defense lift Rock Falls past Rock Island

Rock Falls’ Claire Bickett plays a shot against Rock Island Monday, Sept. 12, 2022.

ROCK FALLS – 11-1 Rock Falls came into Monday night’s matchup against Rock Island (6-6) with an aggressive mindset. After two sets, its persistence paid off in a 25-11, 25-22 victory at Tabor Gym.

Rock Falls jumped out to a 10-5 first-set lead on a Zoe Henson ace, and rattled off 10 consecutive points, with three coming on Claire Bickett kills. A few Rocket hitting errors allowed the Rocks to pull within 20-9, but a quick recovery and an Emily Lego block kill sealed the first set victory, 25-11. Bickett was a catalyst for the dominant first set, scoring four points on kills and one on an ace serve.

“That first set, our blocking really started coming through, and I think that really frustrated Rock Island,” Rock Falls coach Sheila Pillars said. “I think we just relaxed a little bit more and that’s why the offense kind of spurted.”

“I think overall, our hitting was pretty solid. Same with our serve/receive,” Rock Falls’ Sophia Moeller said. “We had a couple kinks, but overall our passing tonight and hitting went really well.”

In the second set, Rock Island showed its resilience, battling to a 9-9 tie before taking the lead three different times. Addie Bomelyn spiked a kill for a 10-9 Rocks’ lead, then they retook the lead twice at 11-10 and 12-11.

With a big defensive effort led by Lego, Rock Falls turned the tide. A Lego block kill knotted the set at 13-13, then a Nicolette Udel kill regained the Rockets’ lead at 14-13. Lego notched two more kills for leads of 17-13 and 20-15, but Rock Island pulled within 22-21 after a Bomelyn kill, a Kayla Rice ace and a Rock Falls hitting error.

Rock Falls’ Sophia Moeller goes up to  block a shot against Rock Island Monday, Sept. 12, 2022.

With the threat of a comeback looming, Rock Falls’ defense stiffened. The Rockets took a 23-21 lead on a Rock Island hitting error, then Bickett notched a kill for a 24-22 advantage, and Udel sealed the 25-22 win with her second and final kill.

“Second set, I think our passing got a little bit worse, so we were kind of struggling on offense a little bit. I thought we had a lot of attempts to put a ball away, and they stepped up their play,” Pillars said. “We kind of let them hang with us until the very end right there, but I thought our serving and defense was excellent. I thought Sophia Moeller played phenomenal back there today, and Zoe Henson came through with her serves. So those key things along with the blocking I think is what kind of carried us today.”

Bickett tallied six kills, eight digs and three blocks. Lego had five kills and six blocks, and Carli Kobbeman chipped in 13 digs. Denali Stonitsch totaled eight digs, while Moeller added seven digs for the Rockets.

“I think that our team, we’re still getting there, we’re still in midseason, so once we progressively keep getting into the season, I think we’re gonna get a lot better,” Moeller said.

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Dan Wussow

Dan Wussow

Dan is the sports editor for Sauk Valley Media. Previously, he wrote for The Post-Crescent in his hometown of Appleton, WI.