Netters fall in TR, but clip Rocky in three

Coach Sara Schlattmann was “very pleased” with the performance of her athletes last weekend. The Buffs lost a hard-fought, five-set match to Tongue River in Dayton Friday, 25-18, 25-23, 17-25, 23-25, 8-15, but came back Saturday to host Rocky Mountain and show them the door in three sets, 25-15, 25-18, 25-15.

Of the two matches, Rocky Mountain was the more important because it was a conference game.

Schlattmann said prior to the match, “I was a bit worried that the long game on Friday might lower our performance Saturday, but that was not the case. It was just a fun, well-played match.”

The team served 93%, led by the 100% serving of Josselyn Jara and Chaise Benasky. Aleksey and Kelsie McColloch both served over 90%.

“Caroline Boyer had a great passing and defensive effort for us with eight digs and 80% passing from serve receive,” praised her coach.

The Buff attack stats were led by the McColloch sisters with each of them putting down 10  kills. Perla Rodriguez made five and Kennedy Craft had four.

Once again the Buffs displayed strong blocking. Rodriguez, Ashley Gomez and A. McColloch made six blocks between them.

“I was proud of how well the girls bounced back from the previous week and worked hard in practice,” said Schlattmann.

Against Tongue River on Friday, Schlattmann said while she was disappointed they didn’t come away with a victory, it wasn’t for a lack of effort. “We needed to stay aggressive against them and as the match rolled on, we got a bit timid and TR found their groove. That one definitely slipped through out hands.

“TR is a competitive team and it was fun to play that match.”

Serving was, once again, a high spot, at 94% as a team. K. McColloch and Benasky were perfect from the line. Jara and Boyer were both above 90%.

“Where we got caught was in our passing out of serve receive,” Schlattmann said. “TR serves aggressively and we were not able to convert as many of our passes as needed, which led to a lower kill percent. I did feel like our back row defense has improved a lot and I was very proud of their hard work.”

Jara was credited with 14 digs; Boyer had 13. The McCollochs combined for 22 kills, Aleksey with 12 and Kelsie with 10, and Kraft and Rodriguez contributed five and four, respectively.

Benasky was credited with 26 assists.

Schlattmann said the Buffs have been working on their blocking, and she felt they were making great progress. Rodriguez made five blocks, A. McColloch made three and Benasky put up two.

The netters have just one match this weekend, but it’s a conference game against the Wind River Lady Cougars at home on Saturday at 2 p.m.

“This is a team that you can’t overlook and who has the ability to hit and block well. It is homecoming and we will spend the week honing in on our skills in all areas. My primary focus though is to elevate the intensity and communication in practice,” said Schlattmann.