Volleyball: Rock Falls visits Oregon in battle for second place in BNC

OREGON – In a showdown between the two teams tied for second place in the Big Northern, Rock Falls carried the momentum from a fast start through the rest of the match in a 25-11, 25-15 win over Oregon on Tuesday night at the Blackhawk Center.

Five different hitters had at least four kills as the Rockets spread the wealth on offense, and they played their standard brand of scrappy defense to control most of the match.

“We’ve all been playing together forever, so I feel that confidence in each other just keeps building as the season goes on,” junior Taylor Reyna said. “Since we’re getting into the last couple of weeks, it’s important, and I feel like we’re getting to where we need to be and it’s all clicking.”

[ Photos from Rock Falls vs. Oregon volleyball ]

Claire Bickett led the way with eight kills and a block, Nicolette Udell spiked seven kills, and Reyna had five kills and a block for Rock Falls (25-2, 6-1 BNC). Emily Lego and Cadence Williamson each had four kills, and whoever Denali Stonitsch set to, it was likely to be terminated.

“It’s honestly crazy to have so many weapons, and when our passing is on, all of our hitters are on, and you know you can just switch it up and go anywhere,” Udell said. “The other team can’t be ready for everything because they don’t know where we’re going to go. I feel like when we are all on, the confidence is through the roof, and that’s when we have the most fun, honestly.”

Stonitsch finished with 26 assists and eight digs, Carli Kobbeman led the back-row defense with 13 digs, and Sophia Moeller had 11 digs. Bickett also finished with 13 digs, and Reyna chipped in seven, including a couple of plays where she dove on the floor in the middle of the court to save a point and take away an Oregon kill.

Rock Falls used a fast start to seize control right away, as a Kobbeman ace and a Udell kill made it 4-0 in the first set. A kill by Jennica Ciesel got Oregon (15-6, 5-2) within 4-2, and an ace from Liz Mois made it 6-4 Rock Falls, but the Rockets got kills from Udell, Bickett and Lego to make it 10-5, then Bickett had back-to-back kills for a 12-5 lead. Another Bickett kill after a pair of Oregon hitting errors made it 15-5 Rockets.

Ava Wight had a pair of kills in a three-point span to get Oregon within 16-8, then two Rock Falls errors made it 16-10. But a free-ball kill by Cadence Williamson, then two kills by Udell and an ace from Bickett stretched the lead back to 21-10, then Williamson spiked a more conventional kill for a 23-10 lead.

“That fast start was big. We knew that it was going to be a good match, because they’ve really stepped up their game this year. We were impressed to see how well they’ve been playing, so we knew they were a good team,” Reyna said. “We knew we had to come out and play with confidence and excitement, and just go into the game will full energy. That’s what we needed to win.”

The second start was back-and-forth at the start, as kills by Ciesel and Kenna Wubbena gave Oregon a 3-1 lead, then a kill and an ace by Mois made it 5-4. A combo block by Reyna and Lego and a kill by Reyna made it 7-6 Rock Falls, but Wubbena spiked a kill to tie it 6-6.

That’s when Rock Falls took over. Reyna had a kill for a sideout, then Bickett had two kills and a block as the Rockets took a 12-6 lead. A tip-kill by Sonya Plescia and an ace by Wubbena got Oregon back within 12-8, then Plescia and Ciesel combined for a block to make it 13-9.

Williamson and Udell had kills around a Wight spike, then Stonitsch served an ace for a 17-10 lead. Wubbena’s dig landed on the other side of the net for a kill, then Mois stuffed a block to get the Hawks within 17-12, but kills on four consecutive points by Udell, Reyna, Bickett and Lego made it 21-12 Rockets. Williamson added one more kill before the match ended on a pair of Oregon errors.

“We came out flat to start the first game, and I felt like that’s how we stayed the whole match,” Oregon coach Farrell Tremble said. “We kind of let them run the game, and we made too many errors on our side and had no execution.”

Wight and Wubbena each had three kills, and Wight added four points and 11 digs for Oregon. Olivia Wynn had eight assists and seven digs, Ciesel had two kills and a block, Plescia had two blocks and a kill, and Sophie Stender led the way with 13 digs.

Lego led a strong service game with nine points for Rock Falls, Bickett and Moeller each served seven points, Zoe Henson finished with five points, and Kobbeman added four points and an ace.

Rock Falls is the top seed at the 2A Rock Falls Regional in a week and a half, and Oregon is the No. 4 seed. The two would play each other in the championship match if both win their semifinals, and Udell said that’s one of the reasons why the Rockets wanted to set the tone from the start in this match.

“That was our goal all day today, because we know we’re going to be in the regional with them too. So we wanted to go out and show, ‘Hey, we got this, let’s go.’ I think that brought our confidence up a lot, and we feel like we’re ready to go for postseason,” she said. “I feel like at the beginning [of the season], we were OK. There were some little rough spots, but I feel like the chemistry has gotten strong, because we’ve all played together for so long. It took a little bit to get that back, but I feel like we’re just really gelling together.”