Hitting the road
<p>Alaina Madsen (left), hitting around Emilie Charlo (11) and Kaylie Durglo (3), collects one of her six kills in Ronan's 3-1 win over Mission on Thursday.</p>
ST. IGNATIUS — In an atmosphere fitting for the opening of district play, Ronan overcame the Mission Bulldogs and a feisty crowd to win a hard-fought 17-25, 25-18, 25-22, 25-22 match.
Kendra Starkel led the Maidens offense, hammering down a team-high 11 kills.
“At the beginning we were really nervous,” the junior said. “We finally overcame it and we played a really good game. It just took us the first game.”
The loud Mission student section seemed to get in the Maidens’ heads in the first set as the Bulldogs rode three Kayla Billette aces to take the set, 25-17.
“In that first set, our passing was a lot better,” said Mission coach Kendal Anderson. “We were getting the ball to the setter and we were able to make some attacks on the ball. After that, our passing wasn’t so great.”
The Maidens’ size affected Mission’s attack as much as bad passing did. Though Ronan only scored two blocks, the Maidens’ size advantage was evident on both sides of the ball.
“They’re huge,” Anderson said. “I told the girls that if they get a good pass and a good set, they’re going to smack the ball hard.”
Starkel said it was part of Ronan’s practice and game plans to win the battle at the net.
“We’ve been working on blocking a lot in practice and knowing where the ball is at all times,” she said.
One of many offensive weapons for Ronan, Starkel said it wasn’t so much in the game plan to set her the ball.
“We just set whoever’s easiest to set, and it just happened to be me,” she said.
In her first year as Ronan’s coach, Adrienna DeCock was happy with how her team responded to losing the first set.
“We were as prepared as we could have been. The first game they let the crowd get into their head, they let the nerves get into their head,” DeCock said. “[My players are] better skill-wise than what’s on the other side. We just had to put it all together and line it up.”
Anderson said she will continue to emphasize communication and passing in practice.
“It seems like in situations when we’re losing, that’s where we stop communicating, and that’s when we need to communicate the most,” she said.
The Bulldogs (0-2, 0-1 District) were led by Kaylie Durglo’s 12 digs and Billette’s four aces.