L-P bounces back from first set loss to beat rival Ottawa for I8 win

Ottawa charged back to take the opening set on the road against rival La Salle-Peru, but over the next two sets it was the Cavaliers who dominated the net and came away with a 24-26, 25-17, 25-13 Interstate 8 Conference victory Tuesday in La Salle.

The Cavs were on a roll to start the match, storming out to a 6-1 lead behind big kills from sophomore outside hitter Aubrey Duttlinger and an ace from Callie Mertes.

But trailing 11-5, Ottawa started to turn things around. Addison Duggan nailed a kill down the middle and then found a spot in the L-P defense with a soft touch that made it 12-7.

Mary Stisser followed with a kill of her own and after a pair of L-P errors, it was tied at 12 after a 6-0 Pirates run.

“I was a little nervous how the match started,” Ottawa coach Jenn Crum said. “But then we grabbed the momentum and I feel like the girls started to put things together.”

The remainder of the opening set was back and forth. The Pirates got a 16-14 lead with a cross court kill from Stisser.

The Cavs responded with a touch shot from Ava Currie before Currie combined with Duttlinger for a block that tied the game at 17.

With the score tied at 22, an L-P shot sailed wide and back-to-back shots from Ottawa went wide, giving the Cavs set point at 24-23.

Ottawa responded after a timeout with a kill from Ayla Dorsey, who then ended the set with a big stuff at the net for the 26-24 victory.

The second set saw L-P start with a bang and never look back.

After dropping the first two points, the Cavs went on a 6-0 run led by kills from Duttlinger and Currie to go along with three Ottawa errors, giving LP a 6-2 edge.

“The funny thing is we tend to drop the first set,” L-P coach Mark Haberkorn said. “But the girls don’t hang their heads. They tend to respond in a big way and tonight was no different.”

Both teams were making outstanding saves, but L-P was dictating throughout and even after an impressive dig from Ottawa’s Kendall Biba, L-P’s Kelsey Frederick had a big hit for a 10-3 advantage.

Duttlinger rolled a shot off the net that landed for a Cavs point and a 13-5 lead. The Pirates got a combined block from Skylar Dorsey and Duggan to cut the lead to 13-7.

L-P kept rolling though with kills from Duttlinger, but Ottawa responded with a point from Stisser after a great point by both teams and a block from Ayla Dorsey that made it 16-10.

A mishit from the Pirates and a shot from Drew Depenbrock off Ottawa defenders that landed for the Cavs pushed the lead to 19-10.

Kalli Ware made a diving save and Duttlinger put the shot away then Frederick’s shot off a Pirates defender gave L-P a 22-14 before Currie sent a shot off the block attempt to give the Cavs a 25-17 second set victory.

“We made a lot of hitting errors in that first set,” Haberkorn said. “But after that we had 15 kills and only four errors in that second set. Both teams made some great digs, but we kept the pressure on and just didn’t make many mistakes.”

L-P jumped to the lead right away in the third set, racing out to a 4-0 advantage with a block from Duttlinger and Currie and a kill from Duttlinger.

Ayla Dorsey got the Pirates on the board with a kill that landed on the line. A few plays later, Margaret Boudreau got a big dig that led to a kill from Frederick for a 7-2 L-P advantage.

Duggan cut the Cavs lead to 8-5 with the kill, but a quick shot from Carly Garretson and an ace from Frederick and two hitting errors from the Pirates made it 12-6.

Currie continued the Cavs roll with a big stuff and after a service error and a shot that sailed long for Ottawa, the Pirates called a timeout trailing 15-8.

“L-P is a strong team,” Crum said. “They have tough blocks to get around, but we knew that coming in. We had some good long rallies that you have to finish and tonight we didn’t do that enough to get the win.”

The Pirates got a shot down the middle of the Cavs defense from Ayla Dorsey, but a mishit and miscommunication found them in a 20-10 hole.

Ella Damron found a hole in the L-P defense, but a service error gave the ball back to the Cavs, who got a big cross court hit from Frederick.

Currie and Anna Riva combined for a block and then Riva finished things off with a shot off a Pirates defender to claim the third set 25-13 and the match.

For the Cavs (20-1, 4-0 I8), Currie had 18 kills and four blocks while Duttlinger added 14 kills and Frederick had six.

Ottawa (15-8, 0-3) was led by eight kills from Ayla Dorsey and five from Damron, who also added 17 digs to go along with 26 assists from Skylar Dorsey.