Ava Peterson (3), Alivia Yri (7) / Photo courtesy of New Rockford Transcript
NEW ROCKFORD — The Rockets didn’t make it easy on Tuesday.
Down two sets to zero, their volleyball season opener was in jeopardy quickly. But this year’s group — fueled by an experienced core — worked its way back to beat Griggs/Midkota (2-4) in five sets at New Rockford-Sheyenne Public School.
“They were like, ‘This isn’t over. Let’s go,’” Rockets coach Sara Myhre said. “To come back from two sets down, it’s easy to give up and lose your momentum. … And so I feel like these girls are setting the tone, like, ‘Okay, we’re ready for anything.’”
The Rockets finished fourth in a competitive, 10-team Region 4 last year. The new volleyball alignment has them in Region 2, District 4 — competing with eight of the nine teams they dueled with last season.
G/M was a new opponent for them, now a member of Region 2, District 3. NR-S was familiar with the Titans, though, from scrimmaging them in Jamestown.
“We know Griggs/Midkota is a really good team. Well-coached,” Myhre said. “We knew coming in they had some big blockers.”
The Rockets lost the first two sets 25-23 and 25-18. They stayed alive with a 27-25 win, fighting off two match points. They evened the match with a 25-21 win and put it away with a 15-12 fifth-set victory.
Early in the match, the Titans were defending a lot of the attacks from left-handed senior Ava Peterson. G/M had leads of 6-3 and 15-12.
NR-S rattled off five points in a row as Peterson started to find her groove. She was the force that kept the Rockets going on Tuesday, leading them with six kills in the first set and 25 on the night unofficially.
“It’s so fun to watch her,” Myhre said. “The way she’s swinging; front row, back row. She’s setting. She’s digging.”
Despite Peterson’s best efforts, along with a pair of timely kills by Emmie Belquist, NR-S lost the first set on a blocked shot. It was a 25-23 stinger.
An early 8-0 run doomed the Rockets in the second set. They weren’t in their rhythm early, and they couldn’t do enough to climb out of a hole. They never got within fewer than four points after G/M took an 8-2 lead.
The Titans won 25-18, and they were in control of the match with a 2-0 advantage.
“I really thought, ‘Okay, I need to switch something up. I need a bigger block,’” Myhre said.
She altered the Rockets’ rotation, which included putting junior Judy Meier in the game.
The difference, at least in the early going of the third set, was night and day. The Rockets jumped out to 4-0 and 10-1 leads. Jocee Lawerence had a pair of aces. Belquist smacked an ace of her own, and Kaci Weisenburger collected a kill.
“It was all the girls. They were digging and diving for everything,” Myhre said. “And when they made an error, they kept swinging.”
G/M clawed all the way back to tie it at 18-18. At one point, the Titans led 23-21, but a Weisenburger kill and a Belquist ace tied it back up. NR-S fended off two match points — down 24-23 and 25-24.
Peterson took care of the rest. She had kills on the final two points of the set, with a soft one and a hard one. She kept her Rockets alive with a 27-25 set victory.
NR-S controlled the early going of the fourth set, taking a 9-5 lead. A 7-0 run shot G/M in front, at one point leading 16-11.
Peterson had two kills in a three-point span to keep it close. Then, down 19-15, NR-S won five straight points to reclaim the lead. After kills by Peterson and Belquist, Meier blocked one to tie it up, and an error put the Rockets ahead.
With the score tied at 20-20, Belquist, Weisenburger and Peterson had successive kills. On the final point, Peterson made a diving save to keep it going, eventually winning on a penalty.
NR-S won 25-21. So it call came down to a 15-point fifth set.
“I knew in that third and fourth set, we were on,” Myhre said. “We were back on.”
The Rockets, interestingly enough, won the first point of all five sets. The fifth set was no different — but then they dropped three in a row and had to fight from behind.
After tying it at 3-3, NR-S went down 6-3 before another 3-0 run tied it back up. It trailed 7-6 — but it took over the last jolt of momentum, going on a 7-0 run to effectively put the match away.
Peterson and Belquist each had two kills in that span as the Rockets took a 13-7 lead. G/M won five of the next six points, but a block by Meier and a kill by Peterson ultimately finished off the 15-12 win.
And it completed an impressive comeback to start the Rockets’ season.
“It was fun,” Myhre said. “A home opener, and come back and win in five sets, it was amazing. So proud.”
It was the first of what the Rockets hope will be many region victories this fall. They’re an older group this year, one that’s been through the ringer already. Peterson is one of three seniors. There are seven in the junior class, including Belquist and Weisenburger, who each tallied 13 kills unofficially on Tuesday.
“I feel like this year, the communication is so much better,” Myhre said. “And I have a long bench full of really good players that I can throw in at any time and can perform just as well.”
Seniors Logan Cudworth and Alivia Yri help shore up the Rockets’ primary rotation, too. Junior Karsyn Wetzel strengthens the defense as the team’s libero.
It’s a squad that has Myhre excited about the rest of the year ahead.
“I’m really looking forward to the season,” she said.
