Volleyball: Dixon can’t keep up with Limestone in sectional semifinal

La SALLE – The Dixon volleyball team fought a juggernaut from Limestone on Monday in a Class 3A La Salle-Peru Sectional semifinal, and in the end, the Rockets’ big hitting and feisty defense was too much for the Duchesses to overcome as they fell 25-11, 25-11.

Right from the start, the Rockets were blasting away at the Duchesses, who finish their season at 23-12. Junior Kennedey Barber and sophomore Ella Karmenzind were among those firing away.

Barber’s big swing landed, then Alayna Rudebeck’s soft touch gave the Rockets a 13-6 advantage.

Morgan Hargrave had a key dig for Dixon, but Karmenzind responded with a stuff at the net as the Limestone lead grew to 16-8.

“We knew coming in how good they were, obviously with them winning 30-plus matches,” Dixon coach Bunyan Cocar said. “We tried to do a few things and slow them down, but I don’t think we expected their speed. We knew they hit hard and played defense, but their speed was just too much for us.”

Dixon called a timeout trailing 19-9, but two more errors and then a spike down the middle of the Dixon defense by Karmenzind pushed the Rockets’ advantage to 21-10.

“We’ve always been a scrappy team,” Limestone coach Shelly Stoner said. “I felt like back in the summer that these girls were hungry. We’re not the tallest team, but we make up for it in being scrappy and hitting big and just playing hard.”

Limestone finished off the first set with a monster shot from Barber.

The Rockets never let up as they scored the first six points of the second set.

Barber started the run with a big kill from the middle, then Anaya Seldal and Alanna Magstadt teamed up for a block. Hannah West added a touch shot in the corner, and Karmenzind blasted a shot off the Dixon defense before Rudebeck served up an ace.

“We couldn’t match their point-for-point service game,” Cocar said. “Their intensity all-around was too much for us, but we fought hard and played good defense at times, and had one of our best seasons in a while.”

Sydney Hargrave served up an ace for Dixon and Ella Govig drilled a shot down the line to cut the deficit to 10-4, but Lili Serna served up another ace for the Rockets on back-to-back serves before Barber fired away once again for a 13-5 advantage.

Despite solid digs from Joey Brumbly, Dixon had a few mishits, and then back-to-back shots from Barber and Karmenzind extended the Rockets’ lead to 18-6.

Govig had a nice touch into the corner and Morgan Hargrave slapped a kill off a Limestone block attempt to cut the Rockets’ lead to 20-10, but the Rockets responded with a Karmenzind ace, then Barber soared high above the net for a kill as the Rockets finished it off.

Limestone advanced the sectional championship, where the Rockets will face Metamora at 6 p.m. Wednesday.

Govig and Madyson Tichler led Dixon with three kills each, while Govig added three blocks and Morgan Hargrave had five digs.