Volleyball: Ottawa rallies for 2-set victory over Pontiac

OTTAWA — The Ottawa volleyball team found itself in uncharted waters in the opening moments of the first set of Tuesday’s match against a ready-to-go Pontiac squad.

After the Indians started the night with five consecutive kills, the Pirates trailed 10-1 and a bit back on their heels.

However, a kill to the back corner by senior Olivia Evola and a seven-point service run by junior Skylar Dorsey helped the Pirates right the ship on the way to a 25-21, 25-20 victory at Kingman Gymnasium.

“In past few years I feel being down 10-1 right from the start we may have not had the confidence to come back like we did tonight,” said Dorsey, who finished with three kills and a team-best 11 service points, including three aces, 10 digs and eight assists. “We have a talented team, talented players, so I think it’s just a matter of when things aren’t going our way to just remember to stay positive and to stay together.

“When the first thing coach said in that time out when it was 10-1 was, ‘We’re OK.’ I think we all kind of looked at each other and said to ourselves, “She’s right, now let’s get back in it.’”

Dorsey’s burst was aided by a pair of kills from Chey Joachim, and after the teams traded points, Ryleigh Stevenson and Evola recorded consecutive kills to finish out the first-set comeback.

“We looked a little nervous in warm-ups and it carried over into the start of the first set,” Ottawa coach Jenn Crum said. “The score was growing in Pontiac’s favor, it took our girls out of their comfort zone a little bit, and I could see some confidence starting to fade. We were playing not to make mistakes, and that’s not us.

“We had troubles reading Pontiac’s defense, they really covered the court and really struggled to find spots to put the ball to. We had to adjust pretty quickly, and we did.

“This wasn’t our best effort by far, but it was just another example for everyone on this team that no matter the circumstances, we have the ability to make a good situation form a not-so-good one.”

Ottawa (11-1) pushed out to leads of 6-2 and 10-3 with junior middle hitter Addison Duggan recording three kills and a block before the visitors bounced back on a four-point service run by Bailey Masching, and a six-point rally by Keara Smith to take a 16-13 lead.

A block by Ayla Dorsey, two kills from Skylar Dorsey, and winning swings from both Joachim and Evola put the hosts ahead 21-19.

Pontiac (4-5) then committed two hitting errors before Joachim and Duggan closed out the match with back-to-back kills.

“We had a lot more energy to start the second set for sure,” said Duggan, who collected four kills and a pair of blocks. “Coach Crum talked about how Pontiac was going to give us everything they had to send it to a third set, so when they started coming back, we had to step up our game even more.

“They hurt us with tips a lot, but I think we started taking that away towards the middle of the second set and I felt like that was a big key.”

Joachim paced the Pirates with six kills in the match, while Stevenson added four. Libero Reese Burgwald had seven points and six digs, while Evola passed for six assists.

Ottawa is next in action on Thursday with a trip to Maple Park to take on Kaneland in an Interstate 8 Conference match.