RBHS faced off against St. Dominic High School on Thursday, Sept. 7. The Bruins lost three sets to one, marking their second loss of the early season.
The team lost two high impact seniors to college last year — outside hitter Lily Dudley and setter Ella Swindle — as well as head coach Trevor Koelling. This forced the Bruins to start fresh this season, a stark contrast to the past two years, as the Bruins Volleyball Team ranked first in the state during both seasons. Regardless of the loss, RBHS assistant coach and algebra teacher, Jessica Eaton, was proud of the girls’ growth in team chemistry.
“I think we are doing a lot better at team dynamics,” Eaton said. “At the beginning of the season we were kinda separate individual players, and now we are starting to get along.”
Sophomore outside hitter Maeve Rush was a top performer Thursday night. Rush tallied double digit kills with help from setters sophomore Isabella Sohl and junior Danielle Hecht. In agreement with Coach Eaton, Rush said that with the start of games, the team has come together.
“I think over the past few games we’ve really grown as a team,” Rush said. “We’ve all been new to each other, and I think we’ve done a good job forming a team bond and chemistry.”
The connection between Sohl and outside hitters Rush and senior Addysen Alvis was prevalent throughout the match. Six points in the first set were scored by Sohl, Rush or Alvis. They also scored four points in the second set, seven in the third and four in the final set. Alvis said RBHS lost most of their points to receiving issues.
When asked what needs to improve after the match, Alvis put it simply. Alvis said with a little more urgency on serve receive, the team would be able to get the ball to their setters cleanly. With a team of great hitters, that will give them a better chance to be the first to reach the 25 point mark.
“I think that all the defense played really well tonight,” Rush said. “All our players did well tonight in their own aspects, and I think as the season continues to progress, and we continue to improve we will be fine.”
Have you been to a volleyball match yet? Let us know in the comments below.
