ROCHESTER — For large stretches of Thursday’s game, Rochester was in control against Centralia.
The Warriors held seven-point leads in each of the first two sets, and held a three-point lead late in the third.
It was Centralia that came away with the sweep, however, as the Tigers came back in all three sets to win 25-23, 25-22, 26-24.
“Sometimes we just need to take that moment to really hash things out and make sure we’re playing our game,” Centralia coach Marti Smith said. “You can’t score all 25 points on one play. We can only focus on that one point, and then you gotta focus on the next one.”
The Tigers (1-1) first comeback came while trailing 18-11 in Set 1, where they rattled off eight points in a row to take the lead. After Rochester (0-3) got the lead back with two points in a row, Centralia finished the set by scoring six of the set’s last seven points.
Centralia again trailed by seven when Rochester took a 16-9 lead in the second set, but the Tigers went on a 9-1 run to take the lead.
“We gotta just keep fighting,” Smith said. “I was really proud of how we finished out each set.”
Rochester got to a set point in the third set, leading 24-23, but Centralia finished the match with three straight points.
“We go through these spurts where we play really well together, and everyone’s communicating really well,” Rochester coach Courtney Baird said. “Then we just get in a rut, and it kind of just snowballs.”
Down a starter, Baird had to mix up the rotation, including a freshman with limited playing time and shifting Arissa LeBaron back to play more defense. Baird was proud of the way LeBaron stepped in, as she tallied 15 digs.
Cheyenne Justice tallied 25 digs and four aces, and Lexi Dupont hit 10 kills.
“They were mixing and matching a little more than usual,” Baird said. “I think they did good … We just gotta get more comfortable. Hopefully, next week, we’ll look good.”
McKenna Smith led the Tigers with 16 assists, eight digs, six aces, and four kills, and Brooklyn Sprague logged nine digs and five kills. Makenzie Erickson went a perfect 13 of 13 from the service line with a pair of aces and 10 digs, while Madison Breckel also served 100 percent (6 for 6).
Hollynn Wakefield and Mikaela Marazita added four kills each.
Centralia will host the Centerville Tournament on Saturday, welcoming W.F. West, Forks, Aberdeen, Shelton, Hockinson, Castle Rock, and Raymond-South Bend, while Rochester will head to Black Hills on Monday.
