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Hinz has 8 kills for Winamac on Pink Out night
BY VAL TSOUTSOURIS
Sports Editor, RTC
WINAMAC –- Bouncing back after a five-set loss to Wabash two days earlier, the Rochester volleyball team defeated host Winamac 25-14, 25-17, 25-15 on Sept. 30.
Emily Hughes led Rochester with seven kills. Kylie Coleman had six kills, and Kennedy Leap had five.
McKenzie Hinz had eight kills to lead Winamac, but no other player had more than two. Winamac played without senior Alyssa Villanueva, who missed the match due to a quarantine. Coach Heather Kasten said she would return for the Oct. 4 match at North Judson.
“She’s definitely a big go-to for us,” Kasten said. “She counters Mac very well -- front-row, back-row, having her on the floor. Not that Piper (Link) has done bad at all. She’s done great in the back row, but we definitely miss her for those out-of-system plays that she just takes over. She does a great job of coming out of the woodwork and making those plays happen.”
Coleman also led Rochester (10-15) with four aces. Lexy Thomas had three blocks. Senior libero Kylie Houston had eight digs and eight serves received. Kenzie Bradley added seven digs and Rily Holloway had six.
Alexa Kouskousakis had 17 assists.
Kaya Campbell and five aces and eight assists for Winamac (4-21). Chloe Rausch had five digs. Jewel Connor had 13 serves received, and Hinz added 12. Hailey Attinger had a block.
Winamac hung within 18-12 in Game 1 before a Jewel Connor service error, a Hughes stuff block, a Lauren Fredel kill error and two Kouskousakis service winners made it 23-12.
A Hinz kill and a Hinz ace made it 23-14, but a service error and a Thomas stuff block closed out the game.
In Game 2, Rochester went on a 9-2 run to take a 16-9 lead. Coleman had two kills during the run, and Hughes and Kenzie Bradley each had aces.
Rochester fell behind 3-0 in the third set thanks to two Campbell aces before going on a 12-3 run. Coleman had a kill and two aces, and Kennedy Leap closed the run with a kill to make it 12-6.
A Kouskousakis dump reversed a three-point Winamac run, and a Thomas stuff got it to match point at 24-14. Two points later, Leap ended the match with a tip.
Rochester was coming off a five-set loss to Wabash on Tuesday that ended any fleeting
TRC title hopes.
“I feel like we played a better match and harder against Wabash Tuesday night than we did this match,” Rochester coach Erin Leap said. “A win’s a win.”
Coach Leap also said that Holloway, a junior who played the previous two seasons on the Tippecanoe Valley JV, has improved “a million percent.”
“She’s doing so well,” coach Leap said. “She’s reading the ball well. She has a lot of confidence. She’s doing great.”
Coach Leap also praised Coleman for her placement on her attacks.
This was Rochester’s third match in four days.
“We were not energetic tonight,” coach Leap said. “This is our third match this week. … We went four (matches) on Saturday (at the Warsaw Invitational) and then one day off and then we had to turn around and play a make-up game (against Lewis Cass). And then a big conference match. We’re tired. … We had to get through some stuff (on Sept. 29 at practice). I would have liked to have given it off, but I couldn’t because we had things we needed to work on.”
Campbell’s serve is like a “knuckleball,” according to Kasten.
“Every little thing can make it move,” Kasten said.
Winamac players wore pink uniforms on their Pink Out Night to support cancer research and raise cancer awareness. Four gift baskets were raffled off, and proceeds were given to help Melissa Toon. Toon is the aunt of both Campbell and her freshman sister Ally who plays on the Winamac JV.
Winamac also accepted free will donations to help defray Toon’s medical expenses.
“We always try to make sure that our donee is someone that’s close to the program,” Kasten said. “This year, with it being almost like another team member, part of our extended family for Winamac volleyball, it’s important that everyone knows that it’s … about the community.”
Rochester def. Winamac, 25-14, 25-17, 25-15
ROCHESTER STATS
Kylie Coleman – 6 kills, 4 aces, 3 digs, 2 assists, 2 serves received; Kenzie Bradley – 1 kill, 1 ace, 7 digs, 5 serves received; Lexy Thomas – 2 kills, 3 blocks, 1 dig, 5 serves received; Kennedy Leap – 5 kills, 1 dig; Emily Hughes – 7 kills, 3 aces, 1 block, 2 digs, 1 serve received; Alexa Kouskousakis – 2 kills, 1 ace, 3 digs, 17 assists; Audrey Bolinger – 1 kill; Rily Holloway – 2 aces, 6 digs, 5 serves received; Emma Sells – 1 dig, 2 serves received; Kylie Houston – 8 digs, 8 serves received; Lillee Lett – 1 serve received
WINAMAC STATS
Raegan Kasten – 2 kills, 1 dig, 1 assist, 4 serves received; Piper Link – 1 kill, 3 digs, 1 assist, 7 serves received; Lauren Fredel – 1 kill, 4 digs, 3 serves received; McKenzie Hinz – 8 kills, 2 aces, 2 digs, 12 serves received; Sydney Thompson – 1 kill; Chloe Rausch – 1 ace, 5 digs, 1 assist; Kaya Campbell – 5 aces, 2 digs, 8 assists, 3 serves received; Hailey Attinger – 1 block, 1 dig; Jewel Connor – 2 digs, 1 assist, 13 serves received
