Volleyball: Newman claims Class 1A sectional championship with straight-set win over River Ridge

FORRESTON – The Newman Comets seized momentum almost immediately in Wednesday night’s Class 1A Forreston Sectional final match against the River Ridge Wildcats, and responded to a brief second-set lull with a big closing surge to win the championship 25-14, 25-17.

Jess Johns accounted for six of Newman’s last seven points, serving an ace between five kills to put away the Wildcats permanently and secure the Comets’ spot in Friday’s 1A supersectional.

[ Photos from Newman vs. River Ridge in 1A Forreston Sectional final ]

“Play to win the point, not to win the game,” Johns said of her mentality during the 7-4 closing run. “Just try to better the ball and get it over. If it goes down, it goes down.”

“She came up huge,” Newman’s Kennedy Rowzee said. “We really look at her as a key player in our offense, and her getting point after point really helped us.”

The Comets started the match with a 4-2 opening run, taking the lead on back-to-back Johns kills. Katie Grennan later served an ace for a 13-7 Newman lead, then River Ridge pulled within 16-12 on a Gwen Miller block, but a 9-2 closing run secured the Comets’ first-set win. Grennan slammed a kill for a 22-12 lead, Makenzie Duhon smashed another kill for a 24-14 lead, and Rowzee hammered another for the 25-14 win.

“I think communicating and pushing our back corners to keep them out of system constantly, and just keeping our offense running and just finishing it,” Rowzee said of her team’s success.

“I think having the mentality of not starting on the bottom, because we did that in regionals, and I know we did not want to start there again,” Johns said. “I think also having a bigger crowd, and even their crowd kind of helped us, just having some noise to keep you out of your own head. I think that helped a lot.”

The second set was back and forth up to a 12-12 tie. Newman jumped ahead 7-4 early, but River Ridge drew within 8-7 after Amie Richmond put down a block and Addison Albrecht spiked a kill back-to-back.

Newman expanded its lead briefly, as Rowzee slammed a kill for a 12-8 lead, but the Comets conceded four straight points from there. Richmond spiked the set-tying point.

“We weren’t really pushing them out of system anymore, we were just kind of tipping them and handing them the ball so they could slam it in our face,” Johns said of the second-set lull. “So I think just being more aggressive and kind of realizing we’ve been here before and playing timid doesn’t get you anywhere.”

The Comets quickly recovered. A Grennan ace pushed the lead to 14-12, and another ace moved the margin to 16-12. The Wildcats pulled within 16-13 after a Newman hitting error, but that’s as close as they’d get for the rest of the match.

Rowzee crushed a kill to go up 18-13, then Johns scored six of the last seven points to secure the sectional championship.

Johns finished with 15 kills and six digs, Grennan dished 10 assists and had seven digs, Molly Olson dished 10 assists and tallied eight digs, and Rowzee spiked five kills. Addison Foster added seven digs for the Comets.

Albrecht slammed eight kills, while Miller dished seven assists, served two aces and blocked two spikes for River Ridge.

Newman will face Augusta Southeastern on Friday at 6 p.m. in the 1A Eastland Supersectional in Lanark.

“I’m not quite sure what team we’re going to be facing yet, but I know they’re both pretty high up there in the rankings,” Johns said before learning of her team’s next opponent. “I think it’s going to be a good game, but if we step out on the court like this and have this energy, I think we’re going to do pretty well.”

“I think the same thing as always: just keeping our heads up, looking forward to that next game and just finishing it, keep going,” Rowzee said.