“We started the match playing very well as Kayla Rocholl got us off to a good start serving 6 straight points,” reported Head Coach Diane Ross of the Rockets.  “We had good rhythm on our offense as Reese Richards and Shaynah Smith were connecting well.  Hillcrest picked up their aggressive defensive play in set 2 and took the set.  In set 3 we got a nice long string of 9 serving points from Reese Richards and Kayla Rocholl added 6 straight serving points as well.  We had good control of set 4 and were able to get the victory.” 

Brooke Hovland led the offense with 17 kills, followed by Ally Johnson with 9.   Brianna Evavold and Amber Frigaard play very well defensively for Underwood.  The Rockets improved to 8-6 overall and 5-2 in the conference.  They will travel to Evansville on Thursday for another Little Eight matchup.

“We had a slow start tonight and Underwood came at us with a very strong offense,” noted Hillcrest Head Coach Debi Foss. “The girls pulled together in the 2nd set and played very well as a team. The third set for us had too many unforced errors which gave the Rockets the upper hand. We had our moments in the fourth set but we just couldn’t put together enough consistency when we needed it.  Natalie Zwiers played her strongest game at the net so far this season. Our middles, Amanda Dekok and Hope Adams, did a better job of getting some touches on the balls that were tight on the net and getting some blocks. As a team we had 78 digs for the match, led by Juniors Mackenzie Foss who had 34 and Maria Ruud with 16 digs. While the high number of digs shows our scrappiness it also meant we played a lot of defense and once again didn’t put up enough offensive numbers.”

As a team the Comets served 90% but they had three players that served 100% for the match:  Madi Foss (12/12), Audra Ewan (11/11) and Kate Peterson (10/10). Hope Adams led with 5 kills and Madison Foss had 4.  Audra Ewan had 7 set assists and Olivia Stanton had 8 set assists.  

“Congratulations to Coach Ross who reached yet another milestone in her coaching career,” added Coach Foss.

Hillcrest will travel to Rothsay on Thursday for another conference matchup.