Wabash avenges regular season loss, knocks Rochester out of volleyball sectional

BY VAL TSOUTSOURIS

Sports Editor, RTC

The Rochester volleyball team finished 10-19 after a 25-19, 25-17, 25-17 loss to Wabash in a Class 2A, Sectional 38 quarterfinal Thursday. Front, from left – J.J. Graber, Logyn Honkomp, Rilyn Strasser, Ella Hake, Aubrey Wilson, Maddy Bailon. Middle – Kaylea McCarty, Avaree Montel, Brailyn Hunter, Kyra Doran, Jenna Seuferer, Amara Wieringa. Back – assistant coach Chase Brown, coach Laneia Strasser, assistant coach Stacey Wilson.

WABASH — The Rochester volleyball team could not overcome its issues with passing, and it led to a 25-19, 25-17, 25-17 loss to host Wabash in a Class 2A, Sectional 38 quarterfinal at Coolman Gymnasium Thursday.

Wabash finished with 15 aces. Four different Wabash players had at least three aces.

“Terrible,” Rochester coach Laneia Strasser said. “That was our Achilles heel tonight. I stress it all the time: If you can’t pass the ball, you can’t do anything else, and we struggled with that. And they all kind of took turns struggling with it. And I kept saying, ‘You know, when you struggle with one, they’re going to keep coming back at you until you fix it.’ And a couple battled back and made some adjustments, and a couple stepped in and helped out there, but it wasn’t a good night for serve-receive.”

Rochester scored three straight points in the first set to cut a 21-16 deficit to 21-19 on an Amara Wieringa kill that glanced off the finger tips of the Wabash block, a Rilyn Strasser service winner and a Josie Bakehorn kill error.

Wabash coach Katie Cromer called timeout, and the Lady Apaches scored the last four points to close out the set after the timeout. Bryleigh Boggs had one of her 19 kills during the run, and she also had an ace.

Wabash had two four-point runs in the second set. The first gave them a 12-8 lead and included a Karlee Bearman kill and a Bakehorn ace. The second pushed the lead to 19-11 and included another Boggs kill and two more Boggs aces.

Down 24-13, Rochester staved off four set points, one of which included a stuff block from Kyra Doran, before the set ended on a Brailyn Hunter service error.

Wabash went on a 7-1 run in the third set to create a 13-6 lead. Bearman had a tip, and Rochester was twice called for double-hits. 

Rochester would cut the lead to 19-17 thanks to Wabash hitting errors and a Wieringa ace, but the Lady Apaches won the final six points to close out the match.

Rochester had beaten Wabash in five sets in their Three Rivers Conference meeting, which was also at Coolman.

Rochester finished 10-19. Rochester has not won a sectional match since 2022 or a sectional title since 2020.

Coach Strasser emphasized communication going back to preseason practice.

“Set one was good; sets two and three not so much,” coach Strasser said of the communication. “Every time I called a timeout, I kept saying we’ve got to talk through this. The same always – you’ve just got to talk, talk, talk. It starts to break down when you get behind a couple points, and it definitely wasn’t very strong tonight.”

Boggs came in leading the TRC in kills.

“We were a little effective at the beginning,” coach Strasser said. “I definitely think she turned it up in sets two and three, and we just weren’t quick enough. I tried to adjust putting my taller blocker on my opposite side to help with that, but unfortunately, that didn’t really seem to do the trick either. She’s good. You’ve got to respect her as a hitter.”

The match marked the final high school matches for seniors Avaree Montel and Ella Hake, but there are 27 other players in the program. Also, the eighth grade team at Rochester Middle School went undefeated.

“That’s exciting for us as a coaching staff,” coach Strasser said. 

Rochester also improved their TRC record from 2-7 last year to 5-4 this year. Now is a matter of the returning players becoming more resilient.

“The experience just wasn’t quite where it needed to be, but they got a lot better, and I look for next year for that to be even better,” coach Strasser said of becoming a more resilient team.

Coach Strasser said she was “super proud” of the team and had the final word on the progress of the program.

“Rome wasn’t built overnight,” she said.

Southwood went on to win their fifth straight sectional, beating Eastern (Greentown) in the semifinals and Oak Hill in the final Saturday. Oak Hill made the final with a five-set win over Wabash.

Southwood will host Wapahani in a regional at 1 p.m. this Saturday.