Takeaways: Ames vs. Des Moines North
Both Ames and Des Moines North began their 2019 campaigns on Tuesday in Ames, with the Little Cyclones taking an easy sweep (25-8, 25-10, 25-12). Here’s what stood out: Acing the test It may have only been the…
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Continue ReadingBoth Ames and Des Moines North began their 2019 campaigns on Tuesday in Ames, with the Little Cyclones taking an easy sweep (25-8, 25-10, 25-12). Here’s what stood out:
Acing the test
It may have only been the second day of classes, but Ames aced a proverbial test against North: the Little Cyclones racked up 23 aces over three sets. The Polar Bears had trouble with serve receive, and junior setter Rachel Rosacker capitalized with a preposterous 10 aces on the day, including seven to open the second set. By the time the Polars Bears scored in that set, she had given Ames a 12-0 lead.
Ames did well to mix speeds and place their serves in advantageous spots. Senior defensive specialist Sarah Carlson added 4 and senior right side Christabel Forney contributed 3.
“I thought our serving was very aggressive,” first-year Ames coach Meg Williams said after Tuesday’s win. “We work really hard on trying to place our serves rather than just serving the ball as hard as we can. I was very pleased.”
Big moments from Right Sides
Forney, a 6-foot right side, helped out in a variety of ways. The lefty aced her first three service attempts and contributed 4 kills. During perhaps the longest rally of the night, it was her diving dig that kept the point alive, which eventually went to Ames.
Sophomore 6-footer Alexa Kopaska also had strong moments. She came off the bench to add 4 kills, including two block-kills in the second set.
Juniors stand out
Ames graduated its libero and both setters from last year, and return only one of its top five hitters, so it’s largely a new-look team, which means some juniors are taking on considerably larger roles. One of those is junior Maddie Timmermans, who led Ames with 9 kills. She attacked the net from the middle and was reliable, racking up kills without many errors.
Most of her kills came off passes from Rosacker, who looked comfortable as the starting setter. She, obviously, served well, but perhaps more importantly, controlled the passing game well. Even on hard-to-handle passes, she located hitters and mixed it up.
“She’s been setting really well, distributing the ball well,” Forney said of the junior.
Another junior, Caroline Wolters, also showed her ability. On one outside kill attempt, she attacked so hard that the serve receive attempt shot straight into the ceiling, where it remained, affixed to a beam. However, the 5-foot-9 outside hitter was also effective in changing speeds and finding openings for points.
North’s stars
Des Moines North wasn’t able to win a match last year, and are a program working on improvement. 5-foot-7 junior Sha’krya Rutledge contributed 3 kills for the Polar Bears and 5-foot-10 sophomore Nya Mach showed good control in playing an all-around game, including a kill.
Giselle Echeverria and Tammy Nguyen contributed aces, too.