Lady Hubs volleyball team draws positives from loss at Yorkville

Rochelle falls in two sets, 25-8, 25-8

Russell Hodges
Posted 9/1/17

The Lady Hubs varsity volleyball team didn’t have much to cheer about when the girls battled a talented Yorkville Foxes squad on the road Thursday evening.

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Lady Hubs volleyball team draws positives from loss at Yorkville

Rochelle falls in two sets, 25-8, 25-8

Posted

YORKVILLE — The Lady Hubs varsity volleyball team didn’t have much to cheer about when the girls battled a talented Yorkville Foxes squad on the road Thursday evening.

Rochelle fell to Yorkville in conference play last season, and the Foxes turned in another dominating performance against the Lady Hubs this year, winning Thursday’s match in two sets by a score of 25-8, 25-8. While Rochelle (2-4-2 overall, 0-1 NIB-12) managed to gain some rhythm early in the first set, it didn’t take long for the Foxes to take control on their home floor.

“Yorkville runs really quick offense and they have great ball control,” Lady Hubs head coach John Pfaff said after the game. “If we’re not getting big swings or putting them on their heels, they’re going to get the ball to the setter and they have three options… Their hitters are big, so if you only have one blocker up there, you have no chance.”

Rochelle’s loss in the first game tied for the team’s worst set defeat this season, with Harlem taking the Lady Hubs down 25-8 in the first of two sets at the Rockford East Tournament last weekend. After both teams switched sides Thursday evening, Pfaff gathered the girls for a team huddle before heading back on the court.

“I told them that this is probably the biggest and fastest team we’re going to play all year,” he said. “They’re going to test us, and if we’re half an inch off the block or 6 inches off on defense, that’s where the ball is going to go.”

Yorkville continued its offensive rhythm in the second set, taking an early lead and making the Lady Hubs uncomfortable with power swings and soft tips to get the Rochelle players out of position. While the purple and white were unable to recover any of their positive momentum built earlier in the match, Pfaff said the loss can serve as a motivator for the girls as they prepare for their home tournament this weekend.

“They’ll look at the score and be disappointed, but I try to tell them to pull something positive they did against a really good team,” he said. “Did you set a good block or dig a really hard shot… Something you can pull out of the game that you can work on the next day. We’ll go back to some basics and get them back into the swing of things before the tournament.”