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BY VAL TSOUTSOURIS
Sports Editor, RTC
Pioneer volleyball coach Rod Nies insists that volleyball is not unlike football and basketball.
When the game is on the line, get the ball in your best player’s hands.
For Pioneer, that would be Keirsten Nies, and with the match on the line and her team down 25-26 in the fourth set, she came up with one of her 16 kills, and the Lady Panthers would go on to beat Rochester 16-25, 25-22, 17-25, 28-26, 17-15.
Lois Layer had a team-high 24 assists, and Nies added 14 for Pioneer, who improved to 2-1. Freshman Laylah Demond had 13 kills. Freshman libero Madyson Shaffer had 32 digs, Nies had 21, Averi Layer had 19, and Aspen Moolenaar had 14.
“The one thing our setters have got to understand is they’ve got to understand that when it’s crunch time, our better hitters have got to get the ball,” coach Nies said. “It’s just the way it is. It’s just like basketball. (Michael) Jordan gets the ball when it’s crunch time.”
Audrey Bolinger had 14 kills to lead Rochester, who dropped to 0-2, but the standout performer might have been senior libero Mia Howdeshell – 38 digs, 30 serves received, four aces and even three kills.
Aubrey Wilson contributed team-highs in aces (five) and assists (36) and added 15 digs.
Pioneer led 20-13 in Set 4, but Keirsten Nies was called for a lift, Demond missed long, Moolenaar missed wide, and Moolenaar missed from the opposite to make it 20-17.
But Pioneer still led 23-19 after a Demond ace before Rochester made another run.
Lois Layer missed on a serve, Brailyn Hunter put down a tip, Farrer missed on a kill, and Averi Layer missed on a kill.
It was 23-23.
A Kendalyn Farrer kill out of the middle made it 24-23, but Farrer brushed the net attempting a block to give Rochester a point. It was 24-24.
A Nies two-handed tip made it 25-24, but a Bolinger block tied it again. A Strasser kill at the net gave Rochester match point.
And then Keirsten Nies took over, taking a back set from Lois Layer from the opposite side and going down the line for the kill. Match point averted.
This match came three days after Pioneer had a match point but lost to Logansport at the Berry Bowl in the Cass County Tournament championship.
Keirsten Nies is the team’s only senior.
“Oh my gosh, I don’t know how to explain it,” Keirsten Nies said. “It’s truly an experience. These girls… We came into this season, and we weren’t sure quite how we were going to be. We knew we were going to be really young, but these freshmen continue to impress. And they have a lot of grit. And that’s what tonight definitely showed.”
An ace from Shaffer gave Pioneer their third set point, and a Hunter miss from the opposite side gave Pioneer the set.
Rochester led 10-7 in the fifth set after a Hunter kill, but coach Nies called timeout, and Pioneer won the next five points. Keirsten Nies had two kills sandwiched around a Lois Layer ace.
Bolinger had a tip and a kill, and a Moolenaar tip error made it 13-13.
A Moolenaar gave Pioneer match point, but a Strasser tip after Howdeshell dove to the floor for a pass made it 14-14.
A Nies missile to the back row gave Pioneer another match point, but a pancake dig from Howdeshell led to an Avarie Montel kill off the block. It was 15-15.
A Demond kill from the outside off the block gave Pioneer their third match point, and this time they would finish after Makenna McKee hit long on match point.
“Really I think the biggest thing that I told the girls is we had 12 missed serves, and we served over 90 percent last year,” Rochester interim coach Stacey Wilson said. “I don’t know what that equates to, but we were aggressive. I think our tip coverage a little bit, but a couple times, we didn’t go for it when we should have or could have. Just little things. But I was telling the girls, we only went five sets one time last year. This was our second game of the season. To go five sets, I think they did really well.”
This was considered an improvement on a four-set loss at Plymouth in their season opener Saturday.
“I think they just knew that wasn’t how they played all summer,” Wilson said. “That they could play better. It was just really coming back in and refocusing on the fundamentals. Our middle coverage was not good in Plymouth, so we focused on that and focused on blocking. … I think the team morale was fine. (The five seniors) are doing a good job of leading them, and we’re shaking off things more. We just need everybody bring their ‘A’ game.”
Senior outside hitter Lillee Lett missed the match with a right lower leg injury. Coach Laneia Strasser missed the match due to a health issue in her family.
Rochester will play at the Tomahawk Invitational at North Miami at 9 a.m. Saturday. They are in a pool with North Miami and Delphi.
“Super, super scrappy,” coach Nies said of Rochester. “They’re only going to get better.”
Pioneer def. Rochester, 16-25. 25-22, 17-25, 28-26, 17-15
PIONEER STATS
Aspen Moolenaar – 4 kills, 14 digs; Averi Layer – 4 kills, 19 digs; Keirsten Nies – 16 kills, 2 aces, 14 assists, 21 digs, 1 block; Kendalyn Farrer – 7 kills, 2 digs; Laylah Demond – 13 kills, 2 aces, 2 digs, 1 block; Lois Layer – 1 kill, 3 aces, 24 assists, 9 digs; Madyson Shaffer – 3 aces, 32 digs
ROCHESTER STATS
Ella Hake – 4 kills, 2 digs, 1 assist; Makenna McKee – 1 kill, 1 assist; Darah Strasser – 9 kills, 1 ace, 12 digs, 2 assists, 18 serves received; Aubrey Wilson – 5 kills, 5 aces, 15 digs, 36 assists, 1 serve received; Avarie Montel – 4 kills; Mia Howdeshell – 3 kills, 4 aces, 38 digs, 30 serves received; Brailyn Hunter – 8 kills, 7 digs, 2 assists, 1 serve received; Audrey Bolinger – 14 kills, 2 blocks, 7 digs, 1 assist; Rylee Clevenger – 2 aces, 15 digs, 2 assists, 12 serves received; Logyn Honkomp – 8 digs, 1 assist, 17 serves received; Makenna McKee – 3 digs
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