ROCHELLE — Trailing 16-24 in the third set of a conference battle with the Ottawa Lady Pirates, the Lady Hubs varsity volleyball team looked to make one final stand on its home floor.

After both teams split the first two sets Tuesday evening, Rochelle found itself in a tough situation against a Northern Illinois Big 12 rival it had beaten in tournament play earlier this season. The Lady Hubs capitalized on a series of Ottawa mistakes, though, bringing the third set within one point before the Lady Pirates squeezed a kill shot past the Rochelle defense to take the set 25-23 and claim the victory.

“You could tell they were getting tight at the end,” head coach John Pfaff said after the match. “They kept setting the same girl… We dug a couple balls and Morgan [Knight] had a great block and a couple of touches on the right side… I think we get on too low of lows, and instead of stopping a team on a 2-point run or a 3-point run, we let the other team get 5 or 6 points.”

Ottawa took command of the match early, taking the first set 25-21 before Rochelle (5-8-2) stormed back with a decisive 25-17 victory in the second set. While the teams didn’t change sides, the Lady Hubs fell out of rhythm to begin the third set, falling 9-2 before taking a timeout to regroup.

“We were in the right spots making digs, but we have to start running down tips more,” Pfaff said. “Offensively I think we need to be more balanced. We had 1 or 2 girls get a lot of swings in, but we need to have some more production in other areas.”

Junior Emma Mehrings and the senior Knight combined for 10 kills in the game, while senior Jacie Wyatt added three kills, seven digs and a team-high nine assists. Junior Sarah Craven continued to anchor the Rochelle defense on Tuesday, totaling 15 digs to lead all Lady Hub players. Craven has made her presence felt at the libero position, a role previously played by Rochelle graduate Paige Myroth.

“What Sarah does is she solidifies our passing,” Pfaff said. “The libero is out there every single play except for one serve, and sometimes she’s under a microscope because she’s passing and digging all the time. She’s touching nearly every ball in the back row and I think she’s doing a really good job.”

The Lady Hubs will aim to bounce back on the road Thursday when the girls face off against the LaSalle-Peru Lady Cavaliers. Rochelle earned seven of the final eight points in Tuesday’s match despite the loss, and Pfaff is hoping the Lady Hubs can show more consistency as the team continues conference play.

“I don’t think they’re going to give us as many free points as we had in that last run,” Pfaff said. “They’re really going to test our confidence… We talk about lows within a match, but now we have to avoid the lows within a season.”