Morris volleyball opens with win over Coal City

COAL CITY – It took a little while for the Morris volleyball team to shake the rust off in its season opener Wednesday night against Coal City.

Once they did, though, the Redskins were dominant, as outside hitters Kennedy Dransfeldt and Kaylie Adams formed a dynamic duo and the defense, headed up by libero Karrina Riley and her 20 digs, rarely let a ball hit the floor en route to a 25-18, 25-8 win.

“This was one of if not the best defensive performances I have ever seen,” Morris’ first-year coach Scott Howell said. “We have been trying to change the mindset and get the girls thinking that they can get to every ball. They saw how that way of thinking works tonight, and they were getting more excited about defensive plays than offensive plays.”

That stingy attitude on defense helped limit Coal City to just seven kills on the night. Morris, meanwhile, got 12 kills from Dransfeldt and seven from Adams, along with two from Katherine Halcomb and one each by Fran Cummings, Jaelyn Wiers, Kaileah Sasser and Ava Trotter.

“It felt good just to be on the court,” Dransfeldt said. “All of us are pretty new to each other, so it took us a while to get comfortable. It’s nice that we have so many options. There are options everywhere for us, and no one has to take the load by themselves. We all trust each other out there.”

Coal City kept things tight early in the first game, as it was tied at 13 midway through. Morris, though, got three kills from Dransfeldt and a pair of aces by Adams to run out to a 20-14 lead. A kill by Wiers and an ace by Colesie Connor down the stretch helped the seal the first-game victory.

The second game was all Morris, as Adams opened the game with a kill, giving the serve to Jada Less, who led the Redskins with 10 assists. Less delivered two aces and Adams had two kills as Less served seven straight points to give Morris an 8-0 lead. After Coal City pulled to within 10-4, Morris got kills from Dransfeldt and Sasser before an ace by Alyssa Schultz, who added seven assists, put the Redskins ahead, 13-4. Coal City got a block by Colleen Feeney and a kill by Kaitlin Jasper to make it 16-6.

The Morris defense took over as Coal City’s final two points came on Morris serving errors. Halcomb had two kills in the Redskins’ 10-2 run to close the game, and Dransfeldt closed it out with a kill.

Macaya Garner had six assists and three digs for Coal City, while Grace Norris led in digs with 12. Lynzie Norris had five digs while Mia Rodriguez (four digs) and Abby Payton (three digs) each had two kills.

“It starts with the passing,” Coal City coach Pam McMurtry said. “You’ve got to be able to pass the ball, and we didn’t do that very well. And our front row needs to put the ball down. We were making mistakes that shouldn’t be made on the varsity level.”

Howell, meanwhile, was more than pleased with his team’s effort, especially when he went to the bench to give the starters some rest.

“Everyone played well tonight,” he said. “I have full confidence to put any girl on our roster out on the floor and know that they will do the job we ask them to do.”

Coal City won the sophomore match, 28-26, 23-25, 25-19.