VOLLEYBALL: Rebuilding Eagles fall to Cleveland

By Ben Coley
Published in Sports on August 17, 2016 1:48 PM

• Print
• Email

Rosewood volleyball coach Jennifer Cochran knew her team faced a tough slate to open the 2016 season.

After falling in straight sets to Parrott Academy on Monday, the team had to quickly turn around and play Cleveland on Tuesday. Adding to the challenge -- the Rams posted a 22-4 record in 2015, and reached the third round of the N.C. High School Athletic Association 3-A playoffs.

Without much time to make adjustments between matches, the Eagles were swept 25-9, 25-14, 25-14.

Entering the season, the team was without Tayzlie Tripple, who moved to Idaho, and former Rosewood star Lexi Mercer. Both players combined for 381 kills last season.

Cochran said the team felt they had Mercer covered, but Tripple's absence caused problems. Those issues were in full force against Cleveland on Tuesday.

"We played two really good clubs (Monday) and today," Cochran said. "We really didn't have time to fix anything in one day. So I told them tomorrow we would fix some stuff. And our group's never played together, which (Cleveland) has, and the team we played (Monday), they've played together too."

The first set began with a service ace from senior Ada Rivera, but that proved to be the only lead the Eagles could grasp. After building a 5-1 lead, the Rams went on a 10-3 run to put the set out of reach.

RHS seniors Hannah Daniels and Hailey Weeks each had one kill in the opening set.

Sophomore Kaitlyn Kincaid started the second set with a kill. Rosewood added two more points, and jumped to a quick 3-0 edge.

However, the Rams' talented hitters slowly began to wear down Rosewood. Cleveland responded with a 5-0 run to take a lead it would not relinquish. Daniels and Rivera both posted two kills in the set.

The final set proved to be more of the same. After the Eagles claimed a 2-0 lead, the Rams stormed back with six consecutive points. Rosewood junior Toree Marak ended the run with a kill, but the effort wasn't enough.

After Marak's kill, the Rams notched a 12-1 spurt, effectively closing the match and proving why they are the reigning Two Rivers 3-A Conference tournament champions.

"I knew (Cleveland) was going to be good. They're a 3A/4A program," Cochran said. "But we never got down. I don't think we ever gave up. We continued to go after the ball."

With six days until the next match, Cochran and the Eagles now have time to take a step back and make adjustments. The time will also give them a period to complete a more important objective -- growing as a unit.

"We work on those things we messed up on today," Cochran said. "We're going to change our serve receive a little bit, and our hitters are going to work more consistently getting it in the box. But the biggest thing is to just stay together."