One streak continued while another came to a halt Thursday night at Roncalli Gym.
Groton stayed undefeated ending Aberdeen Roncalli’s four-match winning streak with a three-set Northeast Conference volleyball victory 25-23, 25-17 and 25-18.
“You know, we could both be 0-20 and this game is going to be as intense as it was. And I feel like the really cool thing about it is the culture started in the 7th and 8th grade game and the C game,” said Groton coach Chelsea Hanson. “This place was alive from the second we got here.”
There was one girl on the court who was new to the culture. Jillian Ellwein transferred to Roncalli from Leola-Frederick and knew the importance of the rivalry.
“It’s just weird because all of these girls have been playing each other for the same years and I’m just coming in new and it’s just a new experience,” Ellwein said. “There’s a big rivalry between. You could tell. Everyone shows up for this game and I came in really stressed, but I feel like I handled myself.”
The nerves showed on the court for the Cavaliers early on as they found themselves down 4-0 fighting an uphill battle all match.
“There was a lot of expectations coming in and I just feel like our mentality wasn’t there. We beat ourselves up tonight. We really did,” said Cavaliers coach Leesa Ware. “You could see it on the court. Our enthusiasm, our energy, just everything. It wasn’t there tonight.”
On the other side of the net, the Tigers knew they needed to get out to a fast start if they wanted to find success.
“We want to start off strong so that we could get our momentum going,” said Groton outside hitter Jaedyn Penning. “Get all the nerves out, play fun and just use my shots.”
Penning played with an Ace bandage around her hip and thigh, but that didn’t seem to slow down the senior.
“So when I was in 8th grade, I was playing soccer and I broke a piece of my bone off my hip and I never really got the right recovery,” Penning said. “And then about two years ago, it started flaring up again. And it’s my senior year, so I’m gonna do anything I can. I don’t feel it, I take medicine and I give it a go.”
It was a first set of momentum as Groton found itself up 20-12, scoring from four different girls on the court. But the Cavaliers clawed their way back in making it a 22-21 game before dropping the set 25-23.
“It’s all about momentum all the time. And for us, what really helps us is that we have four players that can score double digits and lead us in kills on any given night. So, it helps when we can get going and get a few points,” Hanson said. “I watched (Roncalli) get off to a 7-0 or 8-0 start against Miller and watch them go five with that game. So, I knew they weren’t going away. I wasn’t comfortable that it was over until the bell rung at the end.”
It’s one thing to have a wide variety of attackers, and it’s another to have a setter who can set them all and Chesney Weber shared the wealth Thursday night.
“It’s huge. Setters are always unsung heroes. They never get the attention that they deserve and she’s leading our offense and putting our hitters in a position where we’re hitting at a high percentage,” said Hanson. “She’s done a great job setting our hitters up and there’s no doubt that our hitters’ success is a lot of because she’s putting up such a great, hittable ball.”
Not only did Weber set up hitters for success, she scored a couple points herself, tallying a couple kills and a team-high five assisted blocks.
“It’s really important because, you know you want to have digs, but it’s nice to keep the ball on their side and make them make all the errors,” Weber said.
The Tigers ended the match with six girls recording kill. Balance is a strength for their program.
“Everybody is insane. Chesney Weber can pull any blocker. We have middles that can hit anything,” Penning said. “Every single person out there can score and that lets me have any shot I want. I have the best teammates ever and I couldn’t do anything without them.”
Despite fighting uphill all night, the Cavaliers kept marching.
“And that’s the thing. At least they didn’t just roll over and not fight. They definitely did, but they can play a lot better than what we played tonight,” Ware said. “They’ve shown that to me time and time again, it’s just we didn’t have the answers tonight.”
Ellwein led the way for the Cavaliers offensively with nine kills sparking some energy. When the Cavaliers received that boost, they were able to score multiple points in a row.
“I just feel like anytime we get any big point, no matter who it is who gets a good point, it really does bring the energy back on our team,” Ellwein said. “When we have that energy flowing, we are the team that we are supposed to be, but the minute we get down, we just do not play like ourselves.”
The road doesn’t get any easier for either team as Roncalli will host Hamlin on Saturday afternon, and Groton will travel to Clark-Willow Lake next Thursday. The Tigers will look to continue to be mentally tough in that matchup of unbeaten squads.
“This was just a big mental block for us. Physically, we knew that we could battle and we’re gonna be in every game physically, but making sure mentally we can stay in the game,” Hanson said. “I think hopefully this helps propel them forward and play with confidence.”
Serving: Groton 60-69 5 aces (Rylee Dunker 12-13 2 aces, Jaedyn Penning 15-17 2 aces, Jerica Locke 10-12 1 ace); Roncalli (Cambry Feikert 1 ace).
Hitting: Groton 102-122 34 kills (Taryn Traphagen 16-17 8 kills, Penning 23-26 8 kills, Tevan Hanson 21-28 8 kills); Roncalli (Jillian Ellwein 9 kills, Karsyn Davis 5 kills, Gracy Cogley 4 kills).
Setting: Groton 34 assists (Chesney Weber 28 assists, Locke 4 assists); Roncalli (Elyana Roach 13 assists, Ava Danielson 1 assist).
Digs: Groton 66 (Locke 19, McKenna Tietz 14, Penning 12); Roncalli (Rylee Voeller 13, Feikert 12, Roach 11)
Blocking: Groton 7 (Kella Tracy 1 solo 1 assisted, Weber 5 assisted, Dunker 4 assisted); Roncalli (Cogley 2 solo, Roach 1 assisted, Davis 1 assisted).
Records: Groton 5-0; Aberdeen Roncalli 4-2.
