Rochester shows off depth vs. ‘nervous’ NM in volleyball scrimmage

Lady Warrior coach Chumbley: ‘I wasn’t mad about tonight. … I saw a lot of good things.’

BY VAL TSOUTSOURIS

Sports Editor, RTC

Logyn Honkomp

DENVER — The fun started in the back row for the Rochester volleyball team and then worked its way forward against host North Miami in a scrimmage Thursday.

As for North Miami, it is the beginning of the post-Grace Sailors, post-Sparks twins era, and players’ roles are changing. But this might also be remembered as the start of the Lilly Greer era.

Rochester won 30-29 in the alternating-five-serves portion of the match before winning two varsity sets 25-17, 25-17. The night ended with Rochester winning a JV set 25-14.

Rochester had the experience advantage. The Lady Zs had seven seniors, and the Lady Warriors had none.

Senior libero Logyn Honkomp and defensive specialist Rilyn Strasser steadied the back row. Honkomp’s float serve proved difficult to measure, and Strasser frequently backed the front wall with her tip coverage.

“We really put a lot of emphasis on the back row being the leaders and talking more,” Rochester coach Laneia Strasser said. “And those two definitely stepped up and did what we’ve been working on. I think the more they have fun with the game, it spreads. They definitely did that tonight, and I think the girls had fun.”

Though Rochester played a two-setter system for much of last year, they went with one setter this time to get junior Amara Wieringa more swings. Senior Aubrey Wilson was the setter, and in addition to Wieringa, Wilson also set up senior Brailyn Hunter from the outside.

Three other seniors – Jenna Seuferer, KayLea McCarty and Kyra Doran – contributed off the bench. Seuferer’s night included a perfectly placed attack from the outside to the middle of the floor to make it 23-17 in the third set. Back-to-back tips from Doran, a two-hander off the block and a lefty tip at set point, closed it out.

Wieringa’s best moment might have occurred in the third set, when she pounded down a difficult kill from the opposite side and well off the net to make it 13-9.

Other bench contributors included juniors Emma Mathias in the back row and Sylvia McCall in the middle.

“That’s a good place to be in,” coach Strasser said. “We’re excited to be there this year. It’s something we haven’t had for a little while is a little bit of depth, and I felt like you saw that tonight. … I said every girl that is on the bench needs to be ready to go in and play the game that they practice, and they did that tonight. That’s not always easy. It’s not always easy to be sitting on the bench a lot of it and then to be tossed out there. Tonight wasn’t as crucial of moments where you had to have a side-out, which is why you make a sub sometimes. But they did it tonight when it wasn’t crucial, so you know when we are in those situations when we need those sideouts, you stick a girl off the bench, and they’re going to handle that pressure.”

Rochester opens the season with a road match at Plymouth at 11 a.m. Saturday. Coach Strasser said the team is “90 percent” of where it needs to be for the start of the season.

“We got a little bit of sickness going around, some congestion,” coach Strasser said. “I feel like we looked a little tired tonight on certain spots after some long rallies. That’s something (where) we’re obviously not going to be in tip-top shape at this point in your season, but that’s something you’ve got to keep working on.”

With the graduations of Sailors and Ashtyn Halterman, North Miami is without two of their top three hitters from last year. Sailors, who had over 1,100 career kills, is now playing at Franklin College. 

That leaves juniors Layla Hampton and Andrea Hoover as the top returning hitters. 

Hampton went from 130 kills as a freshman two years ago to 154 kills last year. 

Hoover, a junior who qualified for the state finals in the shot put in track less than three months ago, figures to bump her total of 50 kills from last season.

Greer is a freshman who could be imposing in the middle.

“I feel like they have help with some other hitters,” North Miami coach Brianne Chumbley said. “We’ve got Lilly Greer, who’s a freshman, and I expect huge things from her in the front row. But yes, Layla and Andi will be huge contributors in our front row. We just have to work on our passing in order for our hitters to hit.”

Chloe Sparks, who had over 1,800 career assists, and twin sister Zoey, who had over 800 digs and over 1,100 serves received, both graduated, and both are now on Chumbley’s coaching staff.

Sophomore Kinley Deardorff is taking on setting duties for Chloe Sparks. 

“I thought she did well for her first game,” Chumbley said. “She played with us through the summer, but once you go to your first game (or) scrimmage, I thought she did well. They tried to run a one. They tried to run a slide with our freshmen. A few went out, but that’s what a scrimmage is for. They need to practice all these things.

“I wasn’t mad about tonight. I know what we need to work on, but I wasn’t mad. I saw a lot of good things.”

Chumbley noted how nerves played a factor.

“They were extremely nervous,” Chumbley said. “I only had one player out there that played varsity all the way around. Andi Hoover just played front row last year. Layla played all the way around. The rest were like babies out there. We’ll do a lot of passing, but I saw a lot of good passing too when we did the five-serves scenario. And then we showed our age. … We’ve just got to be able to make corrections sooner.”

North Miami will travel to the Peru Invitational at 9 a.m. Saturday to open their season.

Kayden Donaldson, a middle hitter on last year’s 20-win squad, has chosen not to play.