Volleyball: Dixon fires on all cylinders to top DeKalb

DIXON – Not usually one of Dixon’s strongest servers, junior hitter Olivia Cox made the most of her chances from the line Tuesday night at Lancaster Gym.

Cox had a long string of points in the first set to give the Duchesses all the momentum, and they used it to hold off a feisty DeKalb effort in the second set in a 25-9, 25-22 nonconference win.

[ Photos from Dixon vs. DeKalb volleyball ]

Cox had a kill to give Dixon an 11-7 lead in the first set, then stepped to the service line three points later after a Leah Carlson ace and a Morgan Hargrave tip-kill. Cox proceeded to reel off 11 straight points – including six aces – to push the lead to 24-8.

“It was amazing. The whole team came together and they were really supporting me,” Cox said. “Usually I don’t serve; this is kind of the first time I’ve actually had decent serves, and it was great to just keep scoring points. I’ve never really done that well serving, so this was pretty big for me.”

The Duchesses were playing with more confidence in that stretch, and two kills and a block by Madyson Tichler during Cox’s service run kept things rolling for the Dixon offense.

“Olivia’s serving was really big. We played with a lot of confidence because we got that lead. We were still playing it safe every now and then, but we all went hard at it,” Tichler said. “Everybody came together tonight all at once; it didn’t take a while to start the match like it does for us sometimes. We all just came together and we played a good match.”

The second set was a much tighter affair. Dixon (2-4) never trailed, but DeKalb (1-3) rallied from a 17-11 deficit to get within two points three times down the stretch.

“It’s very key to be able to come back. We have to work as a team, trust each other, rely on each other, instead of playing separately,” DeKalb senior Brooklynn Siebrasse said. “We were changing up our shots, being smarter on offense. We were putting the ball in the right spots, and playing as a team.”

Tichler had two kills in a three-point span midway through the second set, then Cox served another ace to make it 14-8. Kills by Tichler and Hallie Williamson pushed the Duchesses’ lead to 17-11.

After committing just one error in the opening set, Dixon struggled a bit in the second, and the Barbs took advantage. Bella Holliday had an ace on a misplayed serve, then Sydney Myles’ dig from the back row dropped into the middle of the Duchesses’ defense for a point. Camryn Hilliard served an ace, then Lily Roach’s tip-kill made it 20-17.

But a tip-kill and an ace by Tichler got Dixon’s lead back to 24-20, and Solis Thompson finished off the match with a kill after consecutive errors by the Duchesses made it close again.

“We just take a deep breath and regain our composure, and just trust each other. We just get one pass and we all connect and it all goes together,” Carlson said. “Olivia came up big [serving in the first set], and that was a lot of momentum. That was really good, and that’s what we needed to push through to get this win in two sets.”

Tichler spiked nine kills and stuffed four blocks to lead the Duchesses, and Carlson finished with 15 assists, five kills, five digs and three aces. Hargrave had four kills, four assists and three digs, Yui Santos chipped in 12 digs, and Cox ended up with 15 points, seven aces, two kills and a block.

“We’ve really been jelling together with our setters lately, working a lot on offense, and it’s been getting a lot better,” Cox said.

“We’re finally getting to that first step of just being out there and playing as a team more,” Carlson added. “The first few games haven’t gone our way, but this is a building year, kind of – if it can be a winning year, too, that will be great – but it’s more of getting some younger players all playing together. That was the first step of how we’re just going to take off and be a team.”

Siebrasse led DeKalb with five kills, and Myles added four kills – all in a different way, with a dig, a tip and a roll shot. Roach finished with six assists, and Anna Fell dished four assists.

“It’s nice to get matches like this early in the season, because it helps prepare us for conference,” Siebrasse said about fighting back on the road. It builds confidence, lets us know what we can do and how we can play.”