Volleyball: Dixon can’t find rhythm in first BNC loss

DIXON – Playing without its Swiss Army knife Tuesday night, Dixon couldn’t find its rhythm and suffered its first Big Northern Conference loss.

With junior floor leader Leah Carlson out after suffering an injury at the Sterling Invite, the Duchesses struggled to put together scoring runs in a 25-23, 25-20 loss to Rockford Christian at Lancaster Gym.

“She just got hurt on Saturday, so we only really had one day at practice to figure out our rotations, and I’m really proud of our team,” junior Morgan Hargrave said. “Everybody stepped into their positions and worked their butt off to get to the ball and make plays. Everybody stepped up where they needed to, and I’m proud of us and the way we played tonight.”

Dixon’s longest spurts were four straight points midway through the first set and five straight toward the end of the second set. But the Duchesses didn’t have another run of more than two points in either set, and couldn’t get in a groove against a tough Royal Lions squad.

Rockford Christian (18-4-1, 4-1 BNC) turned the tide in both sets by turning a few scramble plays into key points to build their lead.

“I think that we played a lot of really good out-of-system plays, and we were spreading the ball around really well and everybody was doing a good job with placement. I think that was the best part of our game tonight,” Rockford Christian junior Madison Anspaugh said. “Even when we were passing off the net, our setter Julia [Irvin] was doing a great job of hustling and putting me and Devon [Turner] in a good spot to hit out of system. Also, we were calling for it and staying aggressive so when we did get a pass, we were able to run a quick offense with our middles and right side.”

Dixon (13-8, 4-1 BNC) struggled to contain the hard-hitting Anspaugh, as she racked up 14 kills while also serving two aces and stuffing a block. Irvin dished 23 assists, repeatedly finding Anspaugh and Turner (9 kills) every time the Royal Lions needed a big point.

But the Duchesses were scrappy in the back row, and had three players record at least eight digs, led by Hargrave and Presley Lappin (10 each) and libero Yui Santos (8).

“I think our goal was to not let any of the balls drop, and just go for every ball and fight for every point,” Santos said. “We were talking, not getting frustrated with one another, moving our feet and just going for every ball. I think we did really well.

“We had some really long rallies, and it was rewarding when we won them. It was fun being out there fighting for every single point.”

There were a pair of particularly long rallies in the first set, with each team winning one. Dixon turned a 10-7 deficit into a 16-14 lead after a Hargrave kill and a Mady Tichler ace, and still led as late as 20-19 after a pair of Izzy Queckboerner kills and a Meredith Foulker spike.

But a back-row kill by Turner tied the set 20-20, and she finished off the set with a kill after an Irvin ace and an Anspaugh spike around kills by Dixon’s Hargrave and Tichler.

“Something that we talk about a lot is our energy and how that can change the game,” Anspaugh said. “No one can ever beat us on energy; that’s something we can control, so that’s a big focus for our team. We practice those hustle plays in practice, so when we get those in a game, it feels very rewarding.”

Trailing 18-11 in the second set, Hargrave stepped to the service line after a sideout and reeled off four straight service points – one on an ace and another on a perfectly placed tip-kill by Makenzie Toms – as Dixon cut the deficit to 18-16.

“It was just playing smart. We knew we needed to serve seams – they had spots open and we weren’t hitting them in the beginning – so when I went back to serve, that was my main goal; I needed to put the serves where my coaches told me to put the ball, and I did that,” Hargrave said. “We got on a run and that helped our energy. I think we rallied by just being smart overall, trying to hit their weaknesses.”

A kill by Turner ended the run, and back-to-back kills by Anspaugh pushed the lead back to 23-18. Anspaugh added two more kills over the final three points to seal the victory.

The loss makes the top of the BNC standing a logjam of teams with one loss just past the halfway point of the conference schedule. Dixon and Rockford Christian are both among that crowd.

“We’re 4-1, they’re 4-1, so we’re still there,” Hargrave said. “We know they’re a good team, but we’re also a good team. It definitely wasn’t our best game, but we fought with them and we did our best.

“We’re not going to let the loss get us down. I think we’ll learn from our mistakes, but just brush it off and keep pushing along.”

Hargrave led the Duchesses with eight kills, seven points and three aces, and Tichler spiked four kills, stuffed three blocks and recorded four digs. Queckboerner finished with three kills and two blocks; Toms had two kills, two blocks and three digs; and Solis Thompson chipped in a kill, two blocks and four digs. Lappin dished 10 assists, Caroline Childers added seven assists and three digs, Emma Olson had five digs, and Foulker finished with three digs, a kill and a block.

Gracie Harkness and Teagan Lawver each had three kills for Rockford Christian, and Anna Malcolm added two aces among her team-high seven service points.