ROCHELLE — The Lady Hubs knew they had to increase their intensity after dropping the first game of Tuesday’s varsity volleyball match against Genoa-Kingston.

Losing by 12 points in the first game and falling behind early in the second game, the Rochelle girls fought valiantly to tie and eventually win a close second game before cruising in the tiebreaker to defeat Genoa-Kingston by a score of 13-25, 28-26, 25-13. Rochelle improved to 7-6-1 overall with the victory.

“Coach [Molly Sly] told us that we made too many mistakes on our side and we needed to take care of business,” junior Maggie Duval said. “We needed to keep the ball in play… This win definitely builds our confidence and gets us pumped up for the next match.”

Service errors and hitting errors by Rochelle helped Genoa-Kingston build an early 10-7 lead in the first game before the Cogs took 9-of-14 points during the middle of the game to extend their lead. On the other hand, Genoa-Kingston’s combination of short and long serves kept the Lady Hubs out of their normal defensive rhythm.

The Cogs jumped on Rochelle in the second game, starting on a 6-1 run before the Lady Hubs took a timeout. Behind strong defense from middle blockers Abby Tilton and Allison Seebach, Rochelle slowly clawed its way back into the game, and the Lady Hubs eventually adjusted to Genoa-Kingston’s tough serves.

“My coach wants me to be a big blocker so we can get touches and help out the back row,” Seebach said. “I feel like we didn’t go out there as strong as we could have at the start of the match. Coach [Sly] told us to play as hard as we could, and I feel like we came out and played together as a team. We were talking to each other more often and we focused on being on our toes instead of our heels.”

Sophomore Clare Green’s service ace tied the second game at 21-21, and another ace by senior Kelsey Thompson helped the Lady Hubs take their first lead of the game at 25-24. A carrying violation against Genoa-Kingston gave Rochelle the game-winning point, and the Lady Hubs took 11-of-19 points to start the third game to build an 11-8 lead.

Three consecutive points by the Lady Hubs forced the Cogs to call timeout trailing 14-8 in the third game. Rochelle’s offensive versatility showed in the third game, as multiple hitters including senior Emma Mehrings (10 kills and 10 digs), junior Katie Van Hise (eight kills) and Duval (seven digs and five kills) earned points on strong swings.

“I just really wanted to win the match,” Duval said. “I get really pumped up and I want to do whatever I can to get the kill.”

Rochelle led 21-12 in the third game before taking 4-of-5 points down the stretch to seal the victory. Green paced the Lady Hub offense with 28 assists while adding 12 digs, and senior Sarah Craven (14 digs) was one of three Rochelle players to record double-digit digs in the match. Tilton and Seebach combine for eight Lady Hub kills.