Volleyball: Newman clinches share of TRAC East title with win over Mendota

Newman’s Katie Grennan sets the ball against Mendota, Tuesday, Oct. 4, 2022.

STERLING – When the Newman Comets can add aggressive, tough serving to their arsenal of weapons, it can be a long night for their opponents.

The Comets served 10 aces Tuesday night against Mendota, and coupled with 14 hitting errors by the Trojans, rolled to a 25-9, 25-11 victory to clinch at least a share of the Three Rivers East title.

“It really brings our game up to another level. It shows in our play that when we have our serves, it makes it so much better, and we can do so much more,” senior Katie Grennan said. “We can get our aces, and then kills and blocks on top of that. It’s so good to have serving as another way we can score points.”

Grennan was the lone Comet celebrated on Senior Night, then she went out and served four quick points to stake Newman (18-4-1, 10-0 TRAC East) to a 5-0 lead. The Comets stretched the margin to 10-1 on back-to-back aces by Sam Ackman, then built the lead to 20-4 thanks to a couple more aces by Molly Olson, multiple kills by Kennedy Rowzee and Jess Johns, and a few more Mendota errors.

A kill by Grennan made it 22-5, then Newman had two service errors and a pair of hitting errors to bring the Trojans (5-13-2, 3-6) back within 23-8. But another Rowzee kill and one final Grennan ace closed out the first set.

“We do really well when we start off on a roll, with a really quick start like that,” Grennan said. “Again, I think serves are very important. We work on serving for a good 10 or 20 minutes everyday in practice, and we want to be very consistent with them. That’s really what I’ve been improving on and what’s helping me get those quick starts.”

Mendota’s Kiara Johnson (left) and Emma Pierce go up to block a shot by Newman’s Katie Grennan Tuesday, Oct. 4, 2022.

The second set was much closer at the beginning. A kill by Grace Wasmer and a tip-kill by Katie Jenner gave the Trojans a 3-1 lead, and they led 4-2 after a Newman hitting error.

But the Comets seized control with Olson at the service line. Like her seven-point run in the first set, Olson served five straight points to turn a 4-3 deficit into an 8-4 lead. She had an ace and Johns spiked a kill in that run.

“When we get our serves in, it just really keeps our momentum going,” Olson said. “It just keeps adding on with one player and then the next player. It just keeps adding energy on every time we can get a point.”

Mendota got within 8-6, then trailed 10-7 after the teams traded errors. After a Grennan kill, Sophia Ely took over at the service line and ignited another Newman surge. She served a pair of aces early in the run, and Rowzee, Leah Kalina and Grennan all had kills as the Comets pulled out to a 21-7 lead. Kalina’s tip-kill closed the 11-point spurt.

Newman’s Leah Kalina spikes the ball against Mendota, Tuesday, Oct. 4, 2022.

“I think our passing was really good tonight, and it allowed us to run new sets,” Olson said. “I feel like we played really good as a team. We played for Katie tonight on her Senior Night, and we just tried to run as much stuff as we could.”

A Grennan block made it 23-8, then three straight hitting errors on Newman made it 23-11. But back-to-back hitting miscues by Mendota closed out the match.

Rowzee led Newman with eight kills, Olson finished with 12 points, 11 assists, eight digs and three aces, and Grennan stuffed the stat sheet with seven digs, five points, four assists, three kills, two aces and a block. Johns had four kills and eight digs, Ackman had five digs, five points and two aces, and Ely finished with 10 points, two aces and a kill. Addison Foster chipped in eight digs, and Kalina had a pair of kills.

“We’re getting to where we want to be as a team with the postseason coming up, and we’re progressing in practice as well, constantly trying to be faster and continue to be more complex,” Grennan said. “That’s really showing out on the court with our different setups and everything we’ve been able to do.”

Jenner had three points, an assist and a kill, Lily Leifheit served two points, and Wasmer and Emma Schultz each had a kill for Mendota. Madelyn Baker chipped in an assist and a point.

“We just had too many errors. We had 14 hitting errors, and we just didn’t play well tonight,” Mendota coach Nicci Gibson said. “We just have to learn and grow, that’s my motto.”

Mendota’s Lily Lefheit passes the ball against Newman, Tuesday, Oct. 4, 2022.
Ty Reynolds

Ty Reynolds

Ty is the Sports Editor at Sauk Valley Media, and has covered sports in the Sauk Valley for more than two decades.