The Rochester volleyball team needed a set to show up to the gym in full at Montesano on Monday, but played the 1A Bulldogs much closer in a sweep of a loss as the match progressed, losing 25-5, 25-20, 25-19.
“We definitely got better as we went,” Rochester coach Bridget Morris said. “We got down pretty quickly on serve-receive in the first game.”
That first set began with a service error giving the ball over to the Bulldogs with an immediate lead, at which point the hosts rattled off 10 straight points.
“That kind of killed any momentum we had in the first game, but in the second and third game, they actually played really well,” Morris said. “The girls are definitely starting to put some pieces together.”
A few of those pieces came together up front, where Delany Winter and Lexi Dupont — the latter making her first start at middle blocker in an official match — forced Montesano to start tipping more and more.
“They both had great games at the net,” Morris said. “They weren’t necessarily finishing blocks, but they were getting their hands there.”
Winter added three kills and two aces, while DuPont added an ace. Natalie Bennett led the Warriors (0-2) with five aces.
At the back, Cheyenne Justice shook off a tough first set to lead Rochester on defense.
“She was a beast today,” Morris said. “She started off slow in Game 1… but in Games 2 and 3 she was stepping up and picking up a lot of balls that were dropping in Game 1.”
Rochester will get its first league test Tuesday, when it plays at Black Hills.
