WINLOCK — It didn’t take Toledo long to get rolling on Monday night.
The Riverhawks scored seven of the game’s first nine points against Winlock, and that set the stage for a dominant 25-13, 25-5, 25-12 victory.
Toledo coach Kelli Larson was more than pleased with the result, especially considering that the Riverhawks have had to work around a recent influx of illnesses.
“We had most of us back together,” Larson said. “Tonight was a good opportunity for us to get some younger girls in.”
A pair of youngsters stuck out to Larson in particular, including Maci Johnson, a freshman who she said did “a very fine job,” and eighth-grade setter Sidney Kruger.
“She’s really starting to connect with the hitters,” Larson said. “That was really nice to see.”
Ellie Fallon and Taysia Miller were the main beneficiaries on Monday, as Fallon tallied 10 kills and Miller logged seven.
Fallon also led the team with seven aces. The freshman outside hitter is one of the few Riverhawks with a lot of varsity experience, and Larson has been happy to see her, Abby Umbriaco, and Lexi Butterworth step up as leaders for the new young core.
“They have good experience,” Larson said. “Just communicating and helping everybody know what they're supposed to be.”
Similar to Toledo, the Cardinals also have a young roster, and first-year coach Nuno Castro has seen improvement, even if it didn’t show on the scoreboard on Monday.
“Today, they were in the right place every single time,” Castro said. “We just made a bunch of weird, little mistakes … When you make mistakes on the basics, there’s really no way out of it, especially against a team like Toledo.”
It was almost the opposite of Winlock’s performance last Wednesday, when the Cardinals swept 1A Elma. Castro said that with such a young team, confidence and consistency will come as the season progresses.
“I have no doubt,” Castro said. “It’s just going through those growing pains in the beginning. But they’re getting better.”
Winlock (1-4) is back in action on Tuesday against Morton-White Pass in a non-league contest, while Toledo (2-3) will welcome Onalaska for a non-league matchup on Thursday looking for its third-straight win.
“That’s gonna be a fun one,” Larson said. “I’m hoping to work on some things with them and come out ready to play.”
