The Volleyball Rocks opened their season Wednesday night at Trinity with a dominant win over DeSales, sweeping the Colts in three sets. The Rocks controlled the match from start to finish, winning 25-13, 25-18 and 25-16. Strong performances from players like Tate Rademaker and Bryson Puckett helped keep DeSales from building any momentum.
In the first set, the Rocks rolled, taking an early lead and never looking back. Senior leader Jackson LaFollette collected seven kills on the left side, while junior Logan Gentner added four kills. The second set was a little closer, but players like Henry Nash helped maintain the lead with multiple blocks. Trinity eventually closed out the match in the third set, with seniors Jack Bachman and Carson Wohlleb helping seal the victory.
First-year head coach Jake Savage earned his first career win with the victory. After the match, he said, “We served well, and we started working on our blocking schemes, and they’re starting to figure those things out.” Along with the strong team performance, Rademaker recorded eight digs while Puckett finished with 24 assists. Savage added, “The team played well. It was good energy, and it was great.”
Along with a talented offense, the Rocks totaled 23 blocks as a team. Middle blocker Henry Nash and outside hitter Chase Kuhn recorded five and six blocks, respectively. Savage emphasized that continuing to improve defensively will be important moving forward. “Communicating the blocking schemes and being consistent with using them will be big for us,” he said. “We need to improve there.”
Looking ahead, Savage said the focus will remain on development throughout the season. “The goal is to just keep improving, to keep building team chemistry and to go far in the state tournament.”
The varsity Volleyball Rocks return to action Friday at 7:30 p.m. as they look to build on their strong start to the season.
