Volleyball: Rock Falls gets rolling, pulls away from Geneseo in opener

ROCK FALLS – Once they shook off the nerves of playing their season opener on their home court, the Rock Falls Rockets really got rolling.

After rallying from a late deficit to win the first set, the Rockets carried over that momentum to the second set in a 25-20, 25-12 win over Geneseo on Tuesday night at Tabor Gym.

[ Photos from Rock Falls vs. Geneseo volleyball ]

Senior Claire Bickett was a key weapon from the service line, reeling off the final eight points in the first-set comeback, then stepping to the line for seven straight points early in the second set as Rock Falls (1-0) built an insurmountable lead.

“Of course your confidence is boosted when you’re on a run like that. You don’t worry about anything and you’re just swinging for the fences serving that many in a row like that. So I think from getting a few in a row at the end of the first set, I definitely had great confidence going back there in the second set,” said Bickett, who finished with 15 points, nine kills, nine digs and two aces. “I think the end of the first set and then the second set showed what we can do when we serve a lot more aggressive and tough and in-bounds. Once we made them pass those hard serves, they struggled.”

While Bickett was hammering serve after serve into the middle of the court, classmate Nicolette Udell was making sure she kept getting more chances. The outside hitter smashed eight kills and stuffed two blocks, with many of them coming in that rotation with her fellow outside at the service stripe.

“I think we started off really excited coming off that first set, and we were just feeding off of each other,” Udell said. “When she got a serve in, it started us off, and when I would get a kill, she’d go back and serve hard again. We were just feeding off each other, and it was so exciting. The rest of the team was super excited, so I think that contributed to it.”

After Geneseo (0-1) opened up a bit of a gap in the opening set, back-to-back Bickett kills tied the set 14-14. Then after the Maple Leafs pushed back out to a 19-15 lead, Rock Falls called timeout.

The teams traded points to make it 20-16 Leafs, then the Rockets found their rhythm. A kill by Bickett in her final rotation in the front row sent her back to serve, and she finished the set from back there. An ace and two Geneseo errors tied the set 20-20, then Udell’s kill gave the Rockets their first lead since 6-5.

Senior setter Denali Stonitsch then dumped a second-touch tip-kill for a 22-20 lead, senior Taylor Reyna stuffed a block in the middle, then Bickett served another ace and Udell finished off the set with another kill as Rock Falls scored the final nine points, and 10 of the last 11, in the set.

“The outside is an important position, so it’s definitely nice knowing that we have two strong hitters, and I think it’s really helpful knowing we’ve both played a lot of volleyball,” Bickett said. “And then with the Reyna sisters [Taylor and Ari] in the middle, we put some height up there, so it makes us tough at the net.”

Ari Reyna’s block gave the Rockets the lead to open the second set, then after aces by Sophia Moeller and Carli Kobbeman, Rock Falls led 6-2. A Bickett kill made it 7-4 a few points later, then she went back to the service line again.

By the time she finished that run, the Rockets led 15-5; Udell had three kills and a block in the stretch, Bickett slammed a kill from the back row, and Lilly Betts stuffed a block.

“It’s like everyone stepped up and had their time tonight. I’m super excited, because I felt that proved that we’ve still got a lot of weapons,” Udell said. “We lost some girls, and that was kind of nerve-racking going out there for our first match, but I think we just proved that we can play with anyone. Anyone can step up and do the job for us, and I think that gives us confidence and gets us excited to start the season.”

Taylor Reyna finished with two kills, a block and an ace, Ari Reyna stuffed two blocks, and Kobbeman led the way with 11 digs. Stonitsch finished with 12 assists, Kacie Witherow dished four more, and Moeller (6 points) and Zoe Henson each chipped in seven digs for Rock Falls.

“Even though it was close at the start, on the court it didn’t feel like it was a close game,” Udell said. “Personally, I came out at the start with a lot of confidence in our team, and it just felt like, ‘We got this.’”

Kailee Williams led Geneseo with six digs, four kills and two assists, and Alysia Perez dished eight assists and served two aces. Eliana Barickman and Elizabeth Rapps each spiked two kills, and Rapps added four digs. Madelyn Mooney chipped in eight digs, and Kylie Maertens served six points, including an ace.

“I warned the girls before the match that Rock Falls is always fast, strong and scrappy; balls are not going to drop on their side of the floor. I told the girls that they had to be ready to work, but I also told them don’t let their strengths outshine our strengths, because we have strengths as well,” Geneseo coach Casey Komel said. “I think that second set, the girls got a little tired. But it’s the first match, and I told them that there’s a lot of season left to play. Rock Falls is a really great team, and they are every year, so I knew it was going to be a challenge; that’s why we like playing them at the beginning, because they can expose our weaknesses.”