Five Takeaways from South Hamilton at Roland-Story
What a match. Two unranked-but-maybe-should-be-ranked teams took to the court Thursday in a fervent and fun match, with visiting South Hamilton topping host Roland-Story 3-1. The teams split the first two sets, setting up an all-important third. That set featured…
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Continue ReadingWhat a match. Two unranked-but-maybe-should-be-ranked teams took to the court Thursday in a fervent and fun match, with visiting South Hamilton topping host Roland-Story 3-1. The teams split the first two sets, setting up an all-important third. That set featured 18 ties with the South Hamilton Hawks finally winning 32-30. They went on to win the fourth set to improve to 20-2. Roland-Story fell to 10-2. Here is what stood out:
Back row players dominated the net
Neither junior Hailey Cavan nor senior Lily Skartvedt is taller than 5-foot-4, but the two Hawks combined for 30 kills on Thursday. Both played the entire match (Cavan described the marathon third set as, “So tiring”) and racked up plenty of digs to go along with their powerful performance at the net. Their ability to attack against much taller players (ranging from 5-foot-9 to 6-foot-1) was impressive.
“They can read a block so well,” South Hamilton coach Ashley Rosenstiel said. “Hailey, you can see it all the time, her tips are in the perfect location. Lily was just on tonight. She was swinging hard. She had a lot of confidence.”
However, neither Cavan nor Skartvedt are primarily hitters.
Skartvedt, a team leader, is committed to play back row for South Dakota State next season. And Cavan has two college offers — from DMACC and Waldorf — to play libero/defensive specialist, the position she plays in club with the Iowa Heart.
The two scored off passes from senior Taylor Volkmann, who racked up 42 assists.
The Set Three winner. Skartvedt hits cleanly for the kill. #iahsvb pic.twitter.com/UZwbzQ8rrA
— Hayes Gardner (@HayesGardner) September 14, 2018
Roland-Story record holder
Norse senior MaKayla Geise entered the match as the school’s career record-holder for kills, with 915, and even though South Hamilton did a great job digging her attacks, she still notched 20 kills in the match.
A 6-foot-1 hitter, Geise was the Norse’s go to offensive option and the most physically-imposing player on the court Thursday. She was impressive at the net and was also given plenty of chances from the back row. She showed why she is committed to Valparaiso and why she owns such a illustrious record.
“It’s pretty special,” said her coach and mother Molly Geise. “She is very passionate about volleyball. She loves it. Puts in so much time and, she was actually just recently watching film on herself for like two hours straight, just trying to critique herself, because she wasn’t hitting as well as she wanted to. She just doesn’t accept not being her best, so it’s fun to see her when she’s worked so hard and achieve that.”
On this point, Roland-Story took their first lead of Set One at 19-18. MaKayla Geise with the block and kill. pic.twitter.com/ZacSm9vHu5
— Hayes Gardner (@HayesGardner) September 14, 2018
In-Sync sisters
Geise’s sister, Madison Geise, played well as a setter, notching 39 assists. She was not flawless, but she distributed the ball well, with her sister being her favorite target. What’s especially impressive is that she’s a freshman, but did not look the part at all. She’s averaging 8.51 assists this year and is third on the team in digs (behind senior libero Taryn Johnston and MaKayla Geise). Madison Geise, who stands 5-foot-9, also added four kills and two aces.
Other options
Roland-story seniors Rylie Goeders (5-foot-10) and Whitney Erickson, plus (5-foot-10) junior Amy Rathmacher (5-foot-9) were also formidable offensive options for the Norse. The three combined for 20 kills in the match.
Senior lefty ‘does it all’
South Hamilton’s Breanne Diersen, a 5-foot-10 senior middle-hitter, has a good, hard serve, plays well in the back row and is a great option at the net.
“She is so consistent,” South Hamilton coach Ashley Rosenstiel said. When we need a score, or we need a kill, she’s our go-to player. Same thing at the serving line, we can count on her serve to go over. We can count on her in the back row to get digs for us, as well, and blocking and hitting. She does it all.”
On one play, right before receiving a serve, Diersen noticed some trash on the court, scampered over to throw it off to the side, then ran back just in time to receive the serve with a dive. She really does do it all.
The senior, who celebrated her 18th birthday on Thursday with a win over rival Roland-Story, finished with nine kills compared to just two attack errors.