Volleyball: Duchesses dig deep, find a way to advance past Hubs

DIXON – With both teams repeatedly digging deep for a little something extra all match long, Dixon was able to find just a little bit more down the stretch Monday.

Rochelle pushed the host Duchesses to the limit in the Class 3A Dixon Regional opener, but Dixon scored four of the last six points to pull out a 25-20, 21-25, 25-23 win over the Hubs at Lancaster Gym.

[ Photos from Dixon vs. Rochelle volleyball in 3A Dixon Regional ]

“It was very intense because both teams wanted to win and keep their season going. We knew if we won this, we’d get to play [Tuesday] on our home court in the semifinals,” Dixon senior hitter Mady Tichler said. “It was very nerve-wracking and very scary, but I’m glad we all pulled together and finished it off.”

“These intense matches are why we play volleyball, and I think we really brought it tonight,” Rochelle senior hitter Taelynn Rodeghero said. “There were some errors that we could’ve cleaned up, but overall, I’m so extremely happy with how we played, how we came together as a team and how we finally figured out everything at the very end of the season. It was a great way to end. I thought the match was amazing, fun to watch, even more fun to play in, and I love all those girls out there so much.”

The third set was a doozy. Two kills by Tichler and an ace from Leah Carlson made it 4-1 Dixon, then Makenzie Toms and Morgan Hargrave sandwiched kills around a dig by Rochelle’s Dempsey Atkinson that fell to the court for a point to make it 8-4.

The Hubs rallied to take a 9-8 lead with two kills by Briel Metzger and a spike from Jaydin Dickey, but Hargrave, Leah Carlson and Tichler had kills before a Hargrave ace to put Dixon back in front 14-10.

“We all took a few deep breaths and we regrouped. We were talking to each other, we switched up the rotation a little bit on serve receive, and we got the lead back,” Tichler said. “I feel like we had a really good advantage when we had good passes because we were in system and everything was turning out our way.”

Tichler had two kills and a block to answer a kill by Meredith Bruns and a couple of Dixon errors to make it 19-15. Audyn Kemp had a kill and Emori Mickley served an ace for Rochelle, then two straight Dixon errors around a Solis Thompson kill tied the set 21-21.

But after a Dixon timeout, back-to-back Rochelle errors put the Duchesses back in front 23-21. Rodeghero had a kill, then the teams traded errors to get to set point at 24-23, and Tichler finished things off by pounding a kill to send Dixon into Tuesday’s regional semifinal match against La Salle-Peru.

“Definitely playing together and talking more was key. We were lacking communication in the second set, so we really had to pick it up in the third set. Our energy just goes up when we’re on a run, and we just wanted it to keep going up from there,” junior hitter Izzy Queckboerner said. “It feels amazing. Our crowd was hyped, and that just hypes us up. It’s just an awesome feeling, and I hope this gives us some momentum and we play even better [Tuesday] and get another Dixon win.”

“It was a lot of back and forth, and it took a lot of communication to keep coming back,” Dixon senior setter Presley Lappin said. “I think all the practice and hard work we put in as a team, and how our coaches hold us up to a standard was key. We’ve learned how to play with each other, and when somebody’s down, we pick them up. We really just persevered as a team and found ways to come together even when we got in holes, and we just pulled through and pulled it out.”

The teams traded the first two sets in similar fashion. Dixon (21-13) took control of the first set with a service run by Tichler that included a block and a kill by Queckboerner, a kill by Thompson and back-to-back aces from Tichler. Another Queckboerner kill later made it 20-11, but Rodeghero’s service run made it 20-15, and Mickley’s ace brought Rochelle within 22-19. Kills by Hargrave and Carlson helped the Duchesses close it out.

“Pregame, we showed up an hour early and we had a very long team talk about how we needed to bring it right from the start, how we needed to play together and what we needed to do to win,” Queckboerner said. “We’ve been studying their film for awhile, so we were just really prepared for it and we knew we needed energy.”

The Hubs (10-23) bounced back to take the second set. A kill by Metzger, an ace by Emma Kennay, and a kill by Rodeghero gave them a 17-8 lead. Dixon got aces by Hargrave and Carlson, three kills from Tichler, a tip-kill by Queckboerner and a Hargrave spike to get back within 22-19, but kills by Kemp and Metzger and an ace by Mickley around a Thompson block forced a third set.

“We didn’t start strong in the first set, and we all knew that, so starting in the second set, we just came in and said we really needed to work those first 10 points or so and then keep going,” Rodeghero said. “We really just needed to keep our momentum going throughout the entire match and never stop working. We wanted to keep the pressure on them, so we all just took a step back, took a deep breath, calmed down and really just played like we know how to play, just trusted each other and really tried to be in that moment.”

“We’ve been kind of struggling all season to play to my expectations, and I asked them just to play the way that I know they can play, and that’s exactly what they did when they stepped on the floor that second set,” Rochelle coach Molly Sly said.

Rodeghero had six kills, four digs, seven points, two aces and a block for Rochelle, and Bruns finished with 12 assists, 11 digs, four kills and an ace. Kemp and Dickey each had five kills – Dickey also had six assists and seven digs – and Atkinson led the way with 17 digs. Metzger had four kills and two blocks, Kennay added eight points and six digs and Mickley served nine points and three aces.

Carlson stuffed the stat sheet with 21 assists, nine digs, five kills, two blocks, seven points and two aces for Dixon, and Tichler led the way with 13 kills, 11 points and two aces. Hargrave amassed 30 digs to go with eight kills, eight points and two aces and Lappin added 11 assists and six digs. Queckboerner had six kills and three blocks, Thompson added eight digs, four blocks and two kills, Toms had eight digs and four blocks and libero Yui Santos chipped in 13 digs for the Duchesses.

“I feel like we all had really high emotions and we came into it expecting a lot, obviously, since we’d already beaten them twice this season,” Lappin said. “Rochelle really gave us a run for our money and they played a great game, but everybody stepped up and played a part for us, did something to help us, and it was a great win. I’m so happy with it.”