P-C Volleyball: Miscues and missed opportunities

Unforced errors doom Rockets in home-opener
“When a rally goes back and forth, back and forth it becomes less of which team is better but who can just keep it together. The rallies are anyone’s game. When that happened, both teams, defensively, weren’t in the right spots a lot and the ball wouldn’t get up to the net." - Paton-Churdan head coach John Johnson

By BRANDON HURLEY

Sports Editor

sports@beeherald.com

@BrandonJHurley

Churdan – A string of misplayed balls and miscommunication ultimately led to Paton-Churdan’s demise in their volleyball home-opener Tuesday, Sept. 6. 

The Rockets (1-3) fell in three straight sets to Rolling Valley Conference foe, Ar-We-Va, 25-16, 25-19 and 28-26 amid a myriad of mistakes and sluggish play.  

“I think the difference was discipline,” P-C head coach John Johnson said. “We had a ton of unforced errors and we weren’t getting the pass up and running our offense very well.”

Ar-We-Va blitzed the Rockets in the first set after opening an 11-9 lead midway through, as they strung together a 14-7 run to close out the set behind an onslaught of well-placed balls and serves. 

Paton-Churdan played better in the second set thanks to a handful of kills from sophomore Megan Carey as the Rockets pulled to a tie at 10. But Ar-We-Va had just enough firepower and P-C committed one too many errors to eventually give away the set. 

A cleaner set for the hometown Rockets and they could’ve seized the opportunity to tie the match at one. 

“We missed a lot of serves,” Johnson said. “In that second set (Ar-We-Va won 25-19), 21 of those 25 points they had, we either hit the net, hit it out of bounds or served the ball into the net or out of bounds. So they only earned four points. That’s a huge difference in the game.”

The third set turned out to be the most intense and competitive of the night. 

After trading leads, Ar-We-Va went on a six-point run thanks to a bevy of P-C errors to jump out to a commanding 14-8 advantage. The visitors seemed poised to cruise to an easy sweep. But Paton-Churdan strung together several long rallies and clawed all the way back, stringing together their own runs. Carey knocked a point over the net to close the deficit to 23-22 later tying the match at 24 with a service ace.  

Another Carey ace gave the Rockets the slim 25-24 lead, one that would quickly evaporate. Ar-We-Va tied the set at 26 then their service game took over to earn the final two points for victory. 

“In the third set, we finally started battling a little bit and we got the ball set up a lot more,” Johnson said. “We kept the ball up on the serve and we were able to run our offense a little better so then we were right there at the end. That’s the  main difference in those two sets.” 

Long rallies were a common theme late in the third set, as Ar-We-Va fought off several kills and strategically placed balls to keep the Rockets at bay. The persistence finally wore on Paton-Churdan as they ultimately fell short of completing the comeback. 

“When a rally goes back and forth, back and forth it becomes less of which team is better but who can just keep it together,” Johnson said. “The rallies are anyone’s game. When that happened, both teams, defensively, weren’t in the right spots a lot and the ball wouldn’t get up to the net. 

Johnson felt his team needed to clean up their passing a little more to come out on top in moments when the defense was scrambling.  

“Those are balls that we need to pass better so when they aren’t passing the ball well, we are taking advantage of that,” the coach said. “We have to get the ball set up and really take it to them.”

The unforced errors were a common theme all night long, and it’s something Johnson knows needs addressed sooner than later. An improved knowledge of in-game situations is a must. 

“We have to have a lot more focus in practice in matches,” the coach said. “The team isn’t real strong in the mental part of the game. We’ve come along physically but when it comes to the mental part, we are a little out of it.”

The jitters of the home and conference-opener played a role too. It took a few sets for the girls to get settled and get in the flow of the contest. 

“(They) wanted to win and they (came) out a little tight and weren’t really doing their job. That’s one of the challenging things - making practice as much like a game as we can, which is really hard to do because the pressure is so much different. 

The most furious rallies arose when Carey got the offense rolling with kills and well-placed serves. The sophomore is fresh off a all-conference season as a freshman and carries the burden of the team’s most talented player. Carey was instrumental in the third set comeback, sending home momentum-changing kills and coming through in the service game when the lead was in their sights. 

“There’s a lot of pressure on Megan because she’s only a sophomore. A lot of the time, our most experienced players tend to be juniors or seniors,” Johnson said. “I think that third set she did a really good job serving the ball aggressively and had a lot more hits at the night. Another thing she did really well was provide a lot more energy.”

The Rockets head to Woodbine Thursday night in search of their first Rolling Valley Conference win. If the Rockets can keep up the competitive fire they showed in the third set and not endure another sluggish start, more wins are real possibilities, Johnson said.  

“If you want to play and compete in our conference, which I think is going to be really even, you have to play with a lot of intensity,” the coach said. “And that’s something we didn’t do real well in the first and second set (tonight).” 

Grace Geisler led the way with eight kills in addition to 12 digs. Carey contributed a team-high 13 digs to go with five blocks and five kills. Mariah Tasler added 12 digs as did Jenna Beyers. 

 

P-C VOLLEYBALL PICKS UP WIN AT WEEKEND TOURNEY IN COON RAPIDS

The Paton-Churdan Rockets picked up their first win of the season over Iowa Christian Academy in two sets Saturday, Sept. 3 at the Coon Rapids volleyball tournament. 

After dropping the opening two games to tournament champion, Ogden (2-0) and Coon Rapids-Bayard (2-0), the Rockets pulled out victories in back-to-back sets (21-19 and 21-11) for their first win of the year. 

The service game came up huge in the triumph, as the Rockets served up 12 total aces led by Megan Carey and Faith Davis, who stroked four aces apiece. 

Sophomore Jenna Beyers led the way with five kills while also contributing three aces of her own. Davis contributed six digs to go with her 9-of-11 night at the service line. Junior Grace Geisler dug out five points while also sending home two kills. 

 

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