TOLEDO – A team’s start is rarely more memorable than how it finishes. The Ross volleyball wanted to make sure its end of the year rendered the start of the season moot.
Olivia DeRodes, volleyball
All season, as they battled the ups and downs of the regular season, the Lady Giants kept their eye on the district tournament and their concrete goal of winning their first-round match and make sure they ended their year on a high note.
Wednesday night, Ross kept its season alive, and made it one worth remembering with a 25-19, 25-11, 25-11 victory over Toledo Start.
“It’s been a long time since Ross has gotten past that and these seniors have never gotten past this first round,” first-year coach Kari Shull said.
“Tonight I talked about how the Cubs won the World Series last year, the Lynx won the WNBA finals, the Warriors won, everybody remembers who won the big thing but nobody remembers their record,” she said. “Looking back, this has always been our Super Bowl or our WNBA finals, to get past that first round and that is what they’re going to remember.”
The Lady Giants got their postseason win but, as has often been the case this year, they needed time to find their rhythm. Ross got off to another slow start, “quiet and back on our heels,” Shull said.
That’s when Shull and her coaches put less emphasis on technique and strategy and more on infusing the Lady Giants with energy.
“I kept telling my coaching staff, for us on the bench, we need to help them by being cheerleaders and help them pick themselves up and get going,” Shull said. “Even though that’s not necessarily what a coach wants to do but that’s what the team needed.”
AnneMarie Moses
Olivia DeRodes and AnneMaries Moses were a two-headed monster on the attack, with DeRodes finishing with 16 kills and Moses with 11. DeRodes added three blocks and while Moses had eight passes and two aces.
Jazmin Bulger had five kills and three blocks while Olivia Baptista added nine passes and two aces.
Lindsay Weickert had 17 digs and 13 passes. Sara Hrynciw had 19 assists and 11 digs with Izzy Held totaling 12 assists.
“Overall, it was nice that everybody had an on-game together at the same time,” Shull said.
The Lady Giants improve their record to 6-17 and will travel to TRAC rival St. Ursula Saturday for a 12:30 match. The Arrows defeated the Lady Giants in three sets in early September.
“We’ve improved quite a bit, changed our lineup since then,” Shull said. “I think for the girls there’s a little taste of revenge in their mouth for that. But we have to make sure we’re focused because we’re talking about homecoming (that night).”