In sync, Woodland earns 25-18, 26-24 TCC win over rival Marquette

RURAL STREATOR – During last week’s Tri-County Conference Tournament, the Woodland girls volleyball struggled, dropping two of three matches.

Since then, the Warriors have won three straight, including Thursday’s 25-18, 26-24 TCC victory over rival Marquette at the Warrior Dome on senior night.

“In the Tri-County Conference Tournament, for whatever reason, the girls were just not where they needed to be mentally,” Woodland coach Michelle Pitte said. “It was the first time that’s happened all season. When you’re not mentally ready to play, bad things happen and wins are very, very hard to get. Even after we lost the opening match, we had a really fun practice the next day and came out swinging in the next one, but then went right back to a bad spot mentally.

“The girls really got things together on Tuesday at Dwight, played super well, and that momentum really carried over into tonight. It was really special for me to see the seniors get a win and play well on their night here.”

Woodland (18-11, 6-3) was led by eight kills each by senior Malayna Pitte (two blocks) and sophomore Grace Longmire (three blocks). Seniors Ella Derossett (five service points, 17 assists), Sadie Darm (10 points, a kill, an ace) and Gabby Jacobs (two kills, two assists, two points) also played well in their final home match.

“This being my last time ever playing on this floor, I not only wanted to play well but I really wanted us as a team to play well.”

—  Malayna Pitte, Woodland senior

The Crusaders (19-10, 4-5) were paced by nine kills from Kelsey Cuchra, five from Avrey Durdan and two each from Ava Offermann and Kinley Rick (five points, two aces). Hunter Hopkins added five points, two aces and nine assists, and Kealey Rick eight assists.

“We had way too many hitting errors (18, to seven for Woodland) tonight and we were off like that on Tuesday at home against Roanoke-Benson,” Marquette coach Mindy McConnaughhay said. “We’ve had seven of the girls out the last few days with stomach flu, and they came out tonight and gave what they could but most of them aren’t at full strength. We’ve struggled off and on all season, but my main concern after tonight is our defensive coverage. We had way too many times where we just weren’t where we needed to be.

“One bright spot was that Kelsey came out swinging and really wanted the ball. She has really progressed to someone we want to get the ball to as much as we can. If we can get Kelsey and Avery going in tandem at the net we can be a tough team. Hopefully that can happen the next few weeks.”

The hosts used a seven-point serving burst by Dram to push out to an 11-4 lead in the opening set. Marquette closed to within 18-16, with an ace by Hopkins, a block by Cuchra and kill by Kinley Rick. A side-out block by Longmire preceded a three-point serving run by Jaylei Leininger, and Malayna Pitte closed out the set with back-to-back kills.

“It was a rough week for all of us.” said Malayna Pitte, who was honored before the match for recently passing the 500-career kill mark. “I’m not sure we ever really got into sync in any of those three matches. The first match against Dwight, I’m not sure what it is, but we always get into our own heads when we play them. We were able to get over that on Tuesday and carried that momentum into tonight.

“This being my last time ever playing on this floor, I not only wanted to play well but I really wanted us as a team to play well. While we had a couple of bumps here and there, I thought we played very well. Everyone was ready to go.”

Woodland with three kills from Longmire broke open a close second set by scoring 10 of 13 points to lead 21-15. The Crusaders battled back on a five-point run by Kinley Rick, which included and ace and two winning swings by Cuchra.

With the set tied at 24-all, Longmire picked up a block and kill just inside the back corner to close out the match.

Marquette is back in action Saturday at the Ashton-Franklin Center Tournament. Woodland is off until 7 p.m. Tuesday, when it opens the Class 1A Flanagan-Cornell Regional against Calvary Christian Academy.