Aberdeen Roncalli closed out a three-match week with a senior night victory Friday night.
The Cavaliers turned back Deuel in straight sets 25-13, 25-19, 25-22 in a Northeast Conference volleyball match for their 16th win of the season, giving the team’s four seniors one final win inside Roncalli Gym.
“It feels pretty special,” said Roncalli senior Rylee Voeller. “This team is everything to me and this sport in general has brought me some of my closest friends. Obviously, it’s sad, but it feels really good to end this night on a positive note with some of my best friends out there.”
Admittedly, it was not the Cavaliers’ cleanest outing of the season. Roncalli misfired on 13 total serves, including six in the opening set alone, a statistic that also plagued the team in its win over Faulkton on Monday.
“We just didn’t play our best volleyball again,” said Roncalli coach Leesa Ware.
The miscues didn’t cost the Cavaliers in the opening set, but nearly did in the closing one after Deuel bulldogged its way to a 17-12 lead in that stanza. The Cardinals put together a 9-1 run midway through the set that included two Cavalier service aces, an Ella Kerkvliet service ace, and a pair of Tory Engebretson kills.
“We are a team, we have these brilliant, bright moments where we get on these runs and it’s fun to watch them play,” said Deuel coach Stephanie Mattson. “Sometimes, as we saw tonight, our consistency struggles a little bit. We get back into a funk and we had trouble pulling ourselves back out.”
Roncalli responded almost immediately with an 8-0 run that featured four service aces from Voeller, and the Cavaliers went on to close out the set and the match.
And, for that matter, the week. Friday’s win marked the third victory in five days for the Cavaliers, who dropped just one set in those three victories.
“I think it gives us some motivation going into these upcoming games,” Voeller said. “We’ve got to go to practice and work on some things. But I think it was a strong week for us. Three games this week, and even though it wasn’t clean, it was still a win.”
Danica Zacher, a sophomore, also finished with four aces for the Cavaliers, all coming in Roncalli’s first six points of the night. Gabby Thomas contributed 11 kills and Grace Cogley had nine kills and a pair of blocks.
“I think the seniors showed a lot of leadership tonight,” Ware said. “They really stepped up. They knew it was their night.”
The win marked the final home victory in the careers of seniors Voeller, Ava Danielson, Morgan Helms and Reese Henrich.
“It’s really special,” Helms said. “The group of girls I played with is just amazing. All of us seniors have been playing since we were in second or third grade, so coming out here and winning with those girls in our last home game was something special.”
Roncalli will close out the regular season Tuesday at Herreid-Selby Area before turning its attention to postseason play.
“We’re definitely going to have to step up and eliminate errors and play good volleyball on Tuesday,” Ware said.
Deuel stats not reported
Serving: Aberdeen Roncalli 58-71 13 aces (Rylee Voeller 12-18 4 aces, Danica Zacher 11-13 4 aces).
Hitting: Aberdeen Roncalli (Gabby Thomas 17-21 11 kills, Grace Cogley 11-12 9 kills).
Setting: Aberdeen Roncalli (Elyana Roach 13 assists).
Digs: Aberdeen Roncalli 52 (Cambry Feickert 16, Voeller 10).
Blocks: Aberdeen Roncalli (Cogley 2 solo, Thomas 1 solo).
Records: Deuel 5-17; Aberdeen Roncalli 16-10.
