Morris volleyball sweeps past Rochelle

MORRIS – For much of the match Thursday night, Morris’ Kennedy Dransfeldt and Rochelle’s Sylvia Hasz went back and forth, getting a point for their respective teams with a kill.

In the end, Dransfeldt had more help from the supporting cast as Morris scored a 25-21, 25-20 Interstate 8 Conference victory on the Redskins’ Senior Night.

Dransfeldt, a senior who will play at University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point next year, finished with a match-high 15 kills, with Hasz delivering 14 for Rochelle. Hasz had 10 of those kills in the first game, but Morris was able to shut her down more effectively in the second game, mainly by doing what does not come naturally for this Morris team.

They let the ball go.

“A lot of [Hasz’s] kills in the first game probably would have been out of bounds deep, but we were trying to play too much defense,” Morris coach Scott Howell said. “It was kind of an adjustment from Tuesday’s match against Kaneland, where every girl was hitting it down and hard, so we knew we had to go after everything.

“We left it all on the court Tuesday, so we gave the girls Wednesday off to relax a little bit, and it took us a little while to get going.”

Even so, Morris (13-2, 9-2) got some help off the bench, as Ava Trotter delivered two kills in the early stages of Game 1 to help the Redskins build a 14-8 lead before Rochelle called timeout. Morris was able to maintain the lead, holding a 21-15 advantage before Rochelle rallied to close the gap to 23-20 by getting two kills from Hasz and one from Addie Friestad.

Senior Fran Cummings made it 24-20 with a kill before a Hasz kill made it 24-21. Dransfeldt finished the game off with a kill.

“Fran Cummings [5 kills] had a nice match tonight, and Ava Trotter had a couple of big kills for us,” Howell said. “Madigan Doss had a couple of nice blocks, and Alana Beshoar came in and made some nice plays. She’s one of those girls that doesn’t play much, but she does what we ask of her when she gets in.”

Rochelle jumped out to a 5-1 lead early in Game 2 and held a 14-8 lead when Howell called timeout. After the break, Morris responded by outscoring the Hubs, 17-6, the rest of the way.

With Katherine Halcomb serving, Morris got to within 14-12 before eventually tying it at 15. Morris took its first lead at 17-16 before there were ties at 17 and 18. A Dransfeldt kill made it 19-18 and gave the serve to senior Jada Less, who promptly delivered an ace for a 20-18 Morris lead. After a Rochelle point, senior Kaylie Adams made it 21-19 with a kill and Cummings gave Morris a 22-20 lead with her fifth kill. After two more Morris points, junior Madison Shannon ended it with a kill.

“The girls have had a lot going on this week with three matches, plus most of them have also had softball or soccer practice, too,” Howell said. “It has been tough on everyone.

“Now we finish the season off with three games next week.”