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DIAGONAL – Essex sealed its first victory this season with a clear advantage at the service line, defeating Diagonal 3-1 Monday night.
The Trojanettes (1-12 overall) came away with a 21-11 edge in aces and finished 61 successful serves, one less than the Maroonettes (0-3) attempted.
“We have actually struggled with (serving), but not tonight. They really performed well,” said Essex assistant coach Patti Gay. “(The coaches) were not calling for any (type of) serves. The girls were doing it on their own.”
Gay, who guided the Trojanettes in the absence of head coach Allen Stuart, watched her team go 61 of 79 at the service line. Diagonal was succesful on 53 of 62 service attempts.
Maroonettes head coach Allison Hajek wants to see an improvement in Diagonal’s offense.
“That is what we talked about,” Hajek said. “I felt like the passes were there in serve-receive, but the hitting was not. We will definitely work on that this week.”
The Maroonettes were confident early in the match after registering a 25-23 victory in the first set. Diagonal gained a 13-9 advantage before a four-point run by Essex knotted the score. But a serving error by the Trojanettes handed DHS the lead and an opportunity.
A kill from Anna Newton made it 19-17 Maroonettes before an ace from Kira Egly put Diagonal ahead 24-21. Essex rallied to make it a one-point margin on a DHS serving error and Brianne Johnson kill, but 5-foot-10 freshman middle hitter Taylor Lumbard used one of her team-high five kills to give the Maroonettes a Set 1 victory.
“I think winning the first set boosted our confidence because the players were saying, ‘We can do this!’” Hajek said. “We will keep improving, working together as a team and building off of each other.”
Lumbard threw in a kill to make the second set a 7-all tie before the Trojanettes scored 13 of the next 15 points to grab a 20-10 lead. The Essex run was sparked by six aces, three from Riley Jensen, two from Sami York and one from Desi Glasgo.
Jensen ended with a match-high eight aces while teammates Camryn Chambers and Elise Dailey served five aces apiece. Dailey dropped two aces in front of Diagonal’s defense as Essex closed out a 25-13 victory in Set 2.
The Maroonettes overcame deficits of 7-4, 10-8 and 12-9 in Set 3 during a five-point run that Erin Sobotka supplied with a pair of aces. She led Diagonal with four aces in the match.
But Dailey, who stands 6-2, began to control the match, using a kill and back-to-back aces to kickstart an 8-1 run for the Trojanettes, who took a 23-18 lead. Lumbard responded with a kill for the Maroonettes, but a passing error handed Essex a 25-20 victory in the third set.
“I saw a huge improvement from our first two games, and I feel like we’re coming together as a team. But we’re still learing to play with each other,” Hajek said. “Taylor Lumbard, Anna Newton and Kira Egly are freshmen who have never played high school sports, let alone varsity sports. They are still developing.
“Our bench is also pretty young. Haley Plowman is a junior who has never played volleyball before and, her sister, Tybee Plowman is another freshman. They have been willing to play where we have needed them,” Hajek added.
The fourth set featured a 12-all tie before the Trojanettes pulled away with a 13-3 win-sealing run. Dailey finished with a match-high 13 kills, four of which she delivered on the final 16 points.
UP NEXT – Diagonal hosts Murray 5:30 p.m. Thursday.
Essex 3,
Diagonal 1
Diagonal statistics
Serving (aces) — Erin Sobotka 13-14 (4), Kayla Bentley 11-13 (3), Anna Newton 7-9 (2), Kerrigan Mobley 9-10 (1), Kira Egly 8-11 (1). Team: 53-62 (11).
Attacks (kills) — Taylor Lumbard 13-15 (5), Mobley 7-12 (4), Newton 7-12 (3), Bentley 6-11 (2), Egly 1-2, Sobotka 1-2, Tybee Plowman 0-1. Team: 35-55 (14).
Blocks — None.
Setting (assists) — Sobotka 9, Lumbard 1, Egly 1. Team: 11.
Digs — Plowman 7, Sobotka 3, Bentley 3, Newton 2, Mobley 2. Team: 17.