Defense leads Lady Rockets over Geibel Catholic
CONNELLSVILLE TWP. – Steady, solid defense carried Jefferson-Morgan to a 3-1 win over Geibel Catholic in Section 5-A girls volleyball action Tuesday night at Geibel Catholic.
Jefferson-Morgan remained undefeated at 4-0 heading into Thursday’s showdown against equally undefeated Frazier for first place in the section. Geibel Catholic fell to 3-2, with losses to both Frazier and JM at home. The Gators travel to California Thursday.
“This was a very big win for us,” JM coach Amy Tedrow said. “This is a big school for us to beat. I’m proud of my girls. They did a good job tonight.”
The key to the good job turned in by JM was keeping balls from hitting the floor. Kristen Stoneking led the way with 16 digs and Sami Adamson added nine more. Offensive numbers weren’t as impressive for JM, as Morgan Kendall and Shayna Kniha had five kills each, but Maddie Dupont was a force on the serve line, with 18 service points, and near the net, with 14 assists.
All of which frustrated Geibel Catholic and coach Rick Watkins.
“They want to make you make mistakes,” Watkins said of Jefferson-Morgan’s defensive strategy. “And we were more than happy to oblige. We didn’t defend very well. If the ball doesn’t come right to us, it’s an open spot and they found open spots all night.”
The Rockets have been playing this style for years and Watkins knew better than to expect anything different. “We told the girls what that team was going to do, but they came in and did it anyway.”
Geibel Catholic started strong and won the first set, 25-21, behind senior outside hitter Rachel Elias, who had five of her 20 kills in the first set. But the Rockets took over from there and picked up 25-14, 25-23 and 25-20 wins.
Watkins said the turning point came early in the second set. “They were ahead, 9-3, and we had scored all of the points,” he said. “We got our three and we had nine unforced errors. It’s frustrating to see the same thing all over again, but we do that all the time. It was the exact same thing against Frazier.”
Elias also had 28 digs for the Gators and Riley Bocan added 26 digs, nine kills and three aces. Ashley Tomasko finished with 19 assists and two aces, while Haley Solan had 17 assists and two aces.