Girls volleyball: L-P overcomes shaky start to top Princeton in season opener

PRINCETON – The La Salle-Peru volleyball team got off to a shaky start to the season Tuesday in an eventual win against Princeton.

The Cavaliers fell behind by four points multiple times early in the first set. Then Kelsey Frederick stepped to the service line for L-P.

The junior middle hitter rattled off six points, including three consecutive aces, to turn the tide for the Cavs.

“I just told myself that I needed to do it for my team,” Frederick said. “I needed to get them hype.”

The Cavs led from start to finish in the second set for a 25-16, 25-20 victory in a nonconference match.

Frederick’s run did the trick as the Cavs led the rest of the first set.

“Kelsey just put the ball deep and the ball moves,” L-P coach Mark Haberkorn said. “She has a nice serve. She was able to split the serve receivers and that caused them a lot of problems.”

“It’s very exciting to start the year off on a good note and set the tone for the whole season,” Frederick said. “It was a rocky start, but we found it and adapted. I think keeping the energy high really helped us.”

After Frederick’s run gave L-P a 13-10 lead, the Cavs continued to extend it.

A back-row kill by libero Kalli Ware, an ace by Callie Mertes and a kill by Ava Currie pushed L-P’s lead to 19-12.

The Tigresses pulled back within four, but an ace by Ware, a kill by Aubrey Duttlinger and back-to-back kills by Frederick helped L-P close out the set.

The Cavs scored the first four points of the second set and led the whole way, leading by as many as six points on four occasions before finishing off the win with consecutive kills by Currie and Duttlinger.

“It was a good match to start the season,” Haberkorn said. “We got behind early. We were able to rebound and regroup with strong serving and some strong net play. In set two, it just seemed like we played steady and consistent volleyball.

“For the most part, I thought we played a pretty good match against a strong Princeton team.”

The Cavs were strong in the middle with Currie and Frederick leading the way in kills. Currie put down a match-high eight kills in 10 attempts, while Frederick had five kills. Frederick had two blocks and Currie had one.

“Ava Currie had an unbelievable night with eight kills in 10 attempts,” Haberkorn said. “It was almost a career night. This is something she can do all season.”

Haberkorn said back-row play was a key in the team’s success at the net. Ware and Mertes had eight digs each. Emma Jereb had 15 assists.

“Middles have to rely more on passing than any other position,” Haberkorn said. “If the pass is behind, you can’t give them the ball. So that’s an example of how good our passing was from the back row and our setters were able to connect with our hitters.”

While L-P stumbled at the start, Princeton started the match strong.

Kathy Maciczak, Keighley Davis, Keely Lawson and Karsyn Brucker each had kills as the Tigresses took leads of 9-5 and 10-6.

“I thought we played well in certain areas,” Princeton coach Andy Puck said. “It was the first match against a really good team. I like playing these guys out of the gate because they expose our weaknesses and now we get to get in the gym Wednesday, Thursday and Friday and work on those weaknesses.”

Puck was pleased with the play of setters Makayla Hecht (7 assists, 3 points) and Rylie Rauh (7 assists, 2 points) and the team’s serving, but said serve receive is an area for improvement.

“We’re running out two new setters and finding that balance and rhythm of your setters with your hitters, finding that connection, it doesn’t happen overnight,” Puck said. “I’m really proud of our setters for the way they performed.”

Brucker and Davis finished with four kills each for Princeton, while Camryn Driscoll had seven digs and six points.