Aberdeen Roncalli earned its first win over a storied Miller program in more than a decade Tuesday night, claiming the upper hand of a 3-2 decision over the fourth-rated Rustlers at the Roncalli Gym. The Cavaliers won the non-conference match by set scores of 22-25, 25-20, 18-25, 25-19 and 16-14.
It was anything but a simple and straight-forward night for either squad. Roncalli raced out to big early leads in the first and fourth sets only to watch the Rustlers return the favor in the fifth.
However, no lead felt safe, as the Cavaliers squandered an 8-0 start to the first, while Miller was unable to hold sway in the fifth.
“It feels so good to pick up that win,” said Roncalli second-year coach Leesa Ware. “Those girls dug deep tonight and they worked hard. I was nervous in that fifth set when we were starting to get down and they rallied back. I couldn’t be more proud of them.”
The up-and-down and back-and-forth motif held strong throughout the night. Roncalli’s 8-0 lead to begin the night eventually dissolved into a Miller set victory, one that was powered by persistence, doggedness and a pair of late runs that turned a four-point Rustler deficit into a set point.
“I was really proud of the way they came back in the first one, because we were down, I think seven or eight,” said Miller coach Linda DeBoer. “It was not good. And then we found our rhythm and did a good job. I have all the confidence in the world that they’re always going to do that. It’s just that this is volleyball and that doesn’t always happen the way we need it to.”
But once again, the see-saw effect tipped back in Roncalli’s favor in the second set, a Cavalier rally fueled by four straight Rylee Voeller service aces late in the stanza.
After the Rustlers regained a foothold in the third set, Roncalli used another early burst in the fourth set to forge a 7-0 advantage. The Cavaliers refused to squander this one, even after Miller closed to within three late in the set.
“The girls put up a fight,” Ware said of her squad. “I think they knew they had to keep up the momentum and keep the energy intact. Otherwise we didn’t have a chance.”
“Our energy has a lot to do with it,” said Roncalli sophomore Jillian Ellwein. “When we get excited, we play a lot better, but when we get down on ourselves, we tend to not be able to get a point. When we get a really exciting point like a kill or an ace, we get really hyped and that helps us on our side of the net.”
Having started all four sets with at least a 2-point deficit, Miller finally put together its own early lead in the decisive fifth set, leading 4-0 and 7-3. Senior Paige Werdel had three kills in that stretch.
“We have big momentum swings where we do a lot of great things,” DeBoer said. “A lot of great things. We’re in that mindset right now where one mistake sets us back for three or four and we’ve got to get out of those ruts faster with more confidence in ourselves and each other and keep playing for each other.”
But on a night when momentum played the part of the fickle friend, Roncalli simply would not be denied. The Cavaliers clawed back for a 10-9 lead, traded it for a 14-12 deficit, then got two of the biggest blocks of sophomore Karsyn Davis’ young career to earn match point.
“That girl stepped up tonight, and I’m so proud of her,” Ware said. “She shined exactly when we needed her to shine.”
Roncalli closed out the match on an attack error from the Rustlers for arguably the biggest win of the Cavaliers’ young season.
Voeller finished with 15 kills, 15 digs, seven service aces and a block for the Cavaliers. Ellwein had 11 kills, several of which came during key rallies.
“You can just feel the energy on the court just shift when (Ellwein) comes on,” Ware said of her sophomore hitter coming off the bench. “I was happy when she came around in that rotation. I knew that Rylee was up to serve and she’s a stellar back-row player. I just knew going into the next rotation that we were going to finish out strong just because of who we had in that front row.”
Cambry Feickert added 15 digs and a trio of aces, while Elyana Roach had 29 assists for the Cavaliers.
For Miller, it was Paige Werdel leading the way offensively, finishing with 19 kills and a service ace. Emma Pugh added 12 kills, while Gracen Werdel notched 42 assists. Jolie Palmer had 37 digs while patrolling the back line for the Rustlers.
DeBoer said there is still a lot to learn from Tuesday’s contest despite the loss.
“I just told them we have to fail forward,” she said. “If we’re going to fail, we have to fail forward and learn from it. … We have the experience and the leadership and the know-how to (fix things), our bench is deep and we have a lot of replacements, so we are in a good spot. An early loss, as long as you can learn more from it, we will be OK.”
Roncalli heads to Tiospa Zina on Thursday, while Miller is at Sully Buttes.
Serving: Miller 93-103 4 aces (Gracen Werdel 19-19-1 ace, Kate Lichty 13-15 1 ace, Paige Werdel 10-12 1 ace, Jolie Palmer 11-14 1 ace); Aberdeen Roncalli (Rylee Voeller 7 aces, Cambry Feickert 3).
Hitting: Miller 159-193 60 kills (P. Werdel 46-57 19 kills, Emma Pugh 34-42 12 kills, Lichty 27-30 11 kills): Aberdeen Roncalli (Voeller 15 kills, Jillian Ellwein 11, Gabby Thomas 7).
Setting: Miller 50 assists (G. Werdel 42, Jolie Palmer 5); Aberdeen Roncalli (Elyana Roach 29 assists).
Digs: Miller 92 (Palmer 37, Kaihlyn Anderberg 21, P. Werdel 10); Aberdeen Roncalli (Feickert 16, Voeller 15, Morgan Helms 11).
Blocks: Miller (Anderberg 1 assisted); Aberdeen Roncalli (Karsyn Davis 1 solo 2 assisted, Thomas 2 assisted, Voeller 1 solo).
Records: Miller 2-1; Aberdeen Roncalli 2-1.
