Volleyball: Maera Jimenez, Mary Lechtenberg help lead Marquette Academy to three-set win over Reed-Custer

OTTAWA – Marquette Academy senior Maera Jimenez has dual duties for the Crusaders, playing the parts of setter and hitter depending on the situation.

During Monday night’s match against Reed-Custer, she was solid in each facet, recording 11 kills and 10 assists which helped lead Ottawa to a 25-13, 23-25, 25-22 victory over the Comets at Bader Gymnasium.

“Reed-Custer always seems to have really good teams, so even after the way the first set played out, we knew they would push back, and they did,” Jimenez said. “I felt like the biggest key tonight was when it got down to the final few points, we really stayed confident in our abilities and didn’t try and do to much.”

With the third and deciding set tied at 22, Jimenez used a perfectly placed shot into the back left corner, before a R-C hitting error and ace by Makayla Backos finished the victory for Marquette (5-2).

“Being a setter, I know where a hitter wants the ball, so to transition back and forth from hitter to setter is pretty easy for me,” Jimenez said. “It’s also important, like it was tonight, to really look to shoot the corners when you can. If you can get the ball to those back corners that’s a tough place for a defense to cover during a rally because a lot of times the backline gets sucked up.”

Marquette also got 10 kills from Mary Lechtenberg, five from Lilly Craig and three each from Anna Hjerpe and Backos (five digs, two aces). Nora Rinearson posted 13 service points, including five aces, Kealey Rick had 15 assists and eight digs and Emma Rinearson nine digs.

In the opening set, a six-point serving run by Backos preceded a set-changing 10-point burst by Nora Rinearson before consecutive winning swings by Lechtenberg and Jimenez closed it out.

“I wish we would have had the energy we had in the final two sets in the first one, but this was a great matchup,” Reed-Custer coach Alyssa Tiangco said. “We did a much better job of serve receive after the opening set, and that obviously allowed us to get into our offense more smoothly. We also did a better job of defending their tips because they were doing a really good job in that area, and it really hurt us early on.

“It’s been years since we’ve beaten Marquette. So, while it wasn’t the win we were hoping for, I feel it was a positive to not only bounce back after the first set but then to take the match to a third set and be within a couple plays of winning it.”

The second set was back-and-forth most of the way, but the Comets used consecutive tip kills from Kaylee Tribble and Madison Keenan on the final two points to send the match to the third set.

Reed-Custer (3-1) was paced by 10 kills, three aces and eight points from Mackenzie Keller, with Tribble finishing with eight kills, three aces, two blocks and seven points.

“It got super intense in that third set for sure. It’s early in the season, but I think no matter what time of the season it is, when two pretty good teams play each other that’s what happens,” Marquette coach Mindy McConnaughhay said. “I was happy to see us stay mentally tough throughout the entire match.

“Whenever you are coming off a Saturday tournament like we were, you always worry about how much your team has in the tank. But I thought we came out right away serving aggressively in the first set, probably the best we’ve served so far. The second set we just couldn’t close things out, but then we were able to do the exact opposite in the third set.”

R-C next hosts Wilmington on Tuesday in an Illinois Central Eight Conference match. MA will play Lowpoint-Washburn on Thursday in a Tri-County Conference contest.