Volleyball: Rock Falls beats Genoa-Kingston in sectional in a rematch of conference foes

OREGON – Only one team was better than Genoa-Kingston throughout its volleyball season, and Rock Falls solidified that fact Monday night.

The Rockets and Cogs played three hard-fought sets for the second time this year. In the postseason, however, the second Rockets win ended G-K’s season with a 25-13, 24-26, 25-15 victory in the Class 2A Oregon Sectional semifinal.

Rock Falls (36-1-1) put an end to the best season in G-K (34-2) school history, with both losses coming against the Rockets. In the first meeting the Rockets, who continue their best season in school history, defeated the Cogs on Oct. 19 in three sets, 18-25, 25-14, 25-15, in Rock Falls.

The Rockets had five hitting errors in the third set Monday after trailing, 16-12. Rock Falls scored the final seven points to advance to Wednesday’s sectional final.

“We persevered,” Rockets coach Sheila Pillars said. “I thought we were going to come back and squeak that second set out, so the fact that we were down and just kept battling, I tell my team that the team with the most composure is the one that’s going to end up winning, and that was us. We really put ourselves together in the third set to come back and take it. I’m super proud of them.”

The Cogs had momentum going into the third set after coming back from a 5-0 deficit in the second set to even the match. The Rockets began the third set with a 2-0 lead on a kill from Claire Bickett and a combo block by Mallory Pinske and Emily Lego. Behind three kills from Alayna Pierce, the Cogs came back to take a 7-4 lead but let the lead slip away when the Rockets’ Maya Sands had a kill from the left corner and Denali Stonitsch reeled off back-to-back aces.

Rock Falls went up by three after a Cara Goff ace made it 13-10, and they stretched it to 16-12 with three more Pinske kills. They led, 20-15, when Moeller came to the service line for the final run of points. Pierce hit a kill attempt out of bounds for the 21st point. Moeller landed an ace inches from the back line for No. 22, Nicolette Udell blocked Alivia Keegan at the center of the set for No. 23, and then another Pierce hitting error set up match point.

Moeller landed another ace right at the back line to end the match, it was the Rockets’ fifth ace in the final set.

“It was a great atmosphere,” Pinske said. “It was such a great crowd. We came out super hot in the first set and kind of slowed down a bit in the second set, but it was good that we could come back in the third set and really take off and do what we had to do.”

The first set was tight until both teams got into double-digits. Sands’ cross-kill from the left pin gave the Rockets the largest advantage to that point, 14-11, and a pair of Cogs hitting errors extended that lead to 16-11. Keegan’s kill gave the Cogs the ball back at 16-12, and the Rockets miscommunicated on the next serve receive to close the gap to 16-13. However, the Rockets came back to end the set on a 9-0 run, sparked by three straight kills from Bickett, a Sands ace and a kill from Katie Witherow.

“In that first [match], we started out really slow but did really good blocking after that,” Pinske said. “We just knew that we had to come out and block, and our defense was really great.”

No lead in the second set reached more than four. The Rockets came close to the lead but the Cogs had a two-point advantage when they reached set point at 24-22. Back-to-back kills from Sands tied it at 24 before a service error and a bad hit gave the Cogs the win to make it a one-set affair.

“They beat us one time already, and it’s tough seeing them beat us again,” Pierce said. “We wanted to come back and beat them. We just ended up not doing it, but we fought really hard though. We came back that second set and fought, but that third set we tried to play our hearts out.”

Sands led the Rockets with 15 kills, and Bickett added 11. Pinske finished with six kills and six blocks. Denali Stonitsch had 16 assists, and Cadence Stonitsch added 13 assists. Cara Goff led the defense with 20 digs, and Sands added 19 digs.

“We had to really keep our composure,” Goff said. “We just had to communicate and play our game that we know how to play, and it came down to what team wanted it more.

“It’s always exciting to play a team that gives us a challenge. G-K really challenges us and pushed us to play to our best potential.”

The Cogs historic season is over, but they left quite a mark in the record book. On top of wins and losses, last week’s regional championship win over St. Edward was the Cogs’ first since 2002 and the third in program history.

“It was a quality match played by both teams,” Cogs coach Keith Foster said. “I thought we came prepared, but I was proud of how they stood up and persevered. We got beat up in the first set, but to come back and push it to a third set took a lot of guts and a lot of pride in the work that we put in this season.”

G-K was led in its finale by Pierce’s 15 kills and Lily Mueller’s seven kills.

“We really came together as a team and have improved since last year,” Pierce said. “It was a really good year. We always worked really well together. We were best friends and had such a really good bond together. We just did amazing.”

In Monday’s other semifinal match, Rockford Lutheran defeated Aurora Central Catholic, 25-19, 25-18. The Rockets lost to Lutheran, 25-10, 17-25, 14-25, on Sept. 30 for their only loss; they tied Aquin on Oct. 16 in pool play at the Eastland Tournament.

“We just have to stay out of our own heads,” Pinske said. “We know it’s going to be a mental game. They’re a tough team, but I think as long as we come out with the same energy that we did tonight we should be OK.”