Injuries hurt Maidens as they drop pair
Hey savvy news reader! Thanks for choosing local.
You are now reading
3 of 3 free articles.
STEVENSVILLE — The Maidens struggled through a tough pair of games on the court last week, falling at home to Mission Tuesday before suffering a four-game loss on the road at Stevensville Saturday.
Injuries once again took their toll on the Maidens in the matches as the team was forced to play without Tuesday Salmon, who is out with a sore shoulder, as well as Ashley Lynch, who is nursing a sore knee.
The new lineup played together well for Ronan, but came up just short in several games during the two matches.
“We were forced into some personnel changes this week that really didn’t help us,” Ronan head coach Naomi Mock said. “There was nothing wrong with the way we looked during the games. We just couldn’t quite get it done, point-wise. It was one of those things where we fought really hard and did some things we haven’t been doing, which looked good, but the ball just fell on the wrong side of the net for us.”
The Maidens looked like a team looking for their footing Tuesday evening as they played well but came up short in a three-game sweep by the visiting Mission Lady Bulldogs. Though much a much closer match than the last time the two teams got together, the outcome was still the same as the Lady Bulldogs got their second sweep of Ronan this season, 25-18, 26-24, 25-22.
Tailyr Irvine led the Ronan attack with seven of the team’s 19 kills in the match while Marissa McCray led the defense with 16 digs. Alice Van Gunten and Taylor Lynch each had seven assists to lead Ronan while McCray added a pair of aces.
“The layout on the floor was quite different from usual. They weren’t jelling quite yet, but hopefully that will come in the next week or two,” Mock said. “The Mission performance was 10 times better than the one we gave in Mission. The girls looked ok. They played fine. We just couldn’t get it done. ”
It was very much the same story in Stevensville Saturday as the Maidens took the Lady Yellowjackets to four games before losing 21-25, 19-25, 25-23, 19-25.
The Maiden defense made a strong showing in the match, turning back more than half of Stevensville’s numerous attacks as Ronan finished with 51 digs and nine blocks.
“My defense has never looked better than it did against Stevensville,” Mock said. “Getting the digs and grabbing everything they were putting down, we were playing great. The ball just wasn’t falling the right way for us.”
McCrea led the Ronan defense in the match with 20 digs while Irvine led in blocks with four. Van Gunten had 14 kills to lead the Maiden offense while Lynch added 14 assists. Van Gunten, Lynch and Lindsay Clairmont each added an ace for the Maidens in the match.
The Maidens will be at home Saturday as they host Hamilton for senior night.
Summary
Mission def. Ronan
25-18, 26-24, 25-22
Kills - Ronan 19 (Tailyr Irvine 7), Mission 37 (Loren Erickson 7, Adessa Durglo 7). Blocks - Ronan 1 (Irvine 0.5, Taylor Lynch 0.5), Mission 4 (Jenn Larsson 2, Durglo 2). Digs - Ronan 52 (Marissa McCray 16), Mission 60 (Mackenzie Trudeau 19). Assists - Ronan 14 (Alice Van Gunten 7, Lynch 7), Mission 28 (Erickson 17). Aces - Ronan 5 (McCray 2), Mission 6 (Durglo 3).
Stevensville def. Ronan
25-21, 25-19, 23-25, 25-19
Kills - Ronan 27 (Alice Van Gunten 14), Stevensville 48 (Britney Chilcott 20). Blocks - Ronan 9 (Tailyr Irvine 4), Stevensville 5 (Chilcott 3). Digs - Ronan 51 (Marissa McCrea 20), Stevensville 38 (Maddie Jones 15). Assists - Ronan 28 (Taylor Lynch 14), Stevensville 45 (Michaila Funkhouser 21, Alexa Omlid 21). Aces - Ronan 3 (Van Gunten, Lynch, Lindsay Clairmont), Stevensville 14 (Jones 4).
