Payton Ottens has seven of Sterling’s 17 aces in a 2-1 win over Rock Island

STERLING – Sterling senior Payton Ottens stepped up to serve with her team trailing Rock Island by seven points in the first set of Tuesday’s Western Big 6 Conference matchup at Musgrove Fieldhouse.

When she was done serving, Sterling reached set point after a run that included seven aces from Ottens.

The standout performance helped get the Golden Warriors on track en route to a 25-19, 22-25, 25-18 victory over the Rocks (2-9, 1-3 Big 6). Sterling (7-4-2, 1-3) got its first conference win after tallying 17 aces as a team.

“I just knew I had to keep it in bounds, keep it in,” she said. “It was really just more about making them work for the ball than giving them a hard serve.”

Ottens used accuracy before power, and it paid off. Coming off three straight close losses in Big 6 play, Sterling’s serving was key.

Ottens said coming back in that first set gave the team confidence it could bounce back despite early errors.

“Knowing what we did wrong the past couple conference games and learning from our mistakes and fixing them and applying them to this game really helped,” she said.

Sterling senior volleyball player Payton Ottens (Photo courtesy of Sterling High School)

The Rocks rebounded in the second set, leading throughout after Sterling initially led 1-0. It was 20-all before Rocky closed it out to force a third set.

In the third set, it was all Sterling after Rocky led 1-0.

“It was definitely a rocky game,” Ottens said. “It could have swung either way, but just glad that we pulled through and finished it.”

Carley Sullivan led Sterling with 10 kills, and Ottens added five of the team’s 25.

Rocky had five aces and was led by Julianna King’s eight kills and AJ Stewart’s 20 assists.

Delali Amankwa had 18 assists for Sterling, and Alivia Gibson and Marley Sechrest each had three aces. Seven Golden Warriors had aces in the win.

Sterling coach Dale Dykeman said the team had been working on serving in practice the last week.

“Against any team, serving is important, but when we go against some high caliber teams, being able to slow their hitters down with some serving, and aggressive serving, is something we realized we needed to get a little bit better at,” he said. “It was good to see that get better on the floor tonight.”

Dykeman said Ottens was simply consistent during her serving run in the first set.

“She moved her ball around a little bit and was able to find some seams and gaps and put her ball in the right spot,” Dykeman said. “And she kept it in bounds. So much of that game is doing that, just being consistent.

“You don’t have to hit 100 miles per hour every time. If you find a good seam or a good spot, that’s just good.”

Dykeman said the team is getting healthier and getting more experience for the younger players.

After a fourth straight nail-biter in Big 6 play, Dykeman sees a balanced league.

“I think in our short time in the conference, this is the most even I’ve seen this conference,” he said. “We’ve went three sets three times. ... It’s a really, really equal league and it just comes down to who’s going to be more consistent and who was able to serve and pass better that night.”

He credited the Rocks for battling, despite their record so far.

“They gave us everything they had,” Dykeman said. “Our offense wasn’t as efficient as we would like it, but we made up for that at the service line.”

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