We practice our serve receive a lot and we’re really challenging each other with our serves. That’s really helped us build our serves up and become strong on the serve.”

Dempsey Atkinson

ROCHELLE — Dominance behind the service line fueled the Rochelle Lady Hub varsity volleyball team during its nonconference match against the Oregon Hawks on Tuesday.

Rochelle finished with nine service aces, most of which came in the first set, where the Lady Hubs forced two Oregon timeouts and led by as many as 16 points. The Hawks nearly rallied for a second-set victory, but a brief service rally and a match-sealing kill from senior outside hitter Taelynn Rodeghero allowed Rochelle to clinch a 25-8, 25-23 win. Rodeghero had a team-high eight kills for the Lady Hubs (2-1, 0-0 Interstate), who host Stillman Valley on Wednesday.

“We practice our serve receive a lot and we’re really challenging each other with our serves,” said senior libero Dempsey Atkinson, one of five players to record an ace for Rochelle. “That’s really helped us build our serves up and become strong on the serve. It’s a really big confidence boost when we build a big lead because it keeps our energy up for the rest of the match.”

Senior Alison Ohlinger sparked the Lady Hubs from behind the service line to start the match, helping Rochelle take an 8-2 lead and force the first of two first-set timeouts from the Hawks. Ohlinger finished with three aces, eight assists, five digs and four kills for the Lady Hubs, who strung together another lengthy first-set rally with junior Meredith Bruns on the serve. Bruns, who totaled two aces, five digs and six assists in the match, ignited a 9-1 run that saw Rochelle eventually build a 20-4 lead over the Hawks and force Oregon’s second timeout of the set.

Although the Lady Hubs maintained consistent pressure on Oregon’s back row throughout the first set, the Hawks managed to respond during the second set, where a combination of better first touches and mistakes on the Rochelle side allowed Oregon to keep pace and even hold a slight lead. With a potential third set looming, Rochelle turned to one of its seniors, Rodeghero, who led a 4-0 run from the service line and capped off a separate 6-1 run with the winning kill.

Rodeghero collected two aces and five digs for the Lady Hubs, while Atkinson totaled a team-high nine digs and senior Emma Kennay notched six digs to anchor the back row. While the Lady Hubs controlled most of the match with their serves, Rochelle had minimal trouble handling Oregon’s serves, receiving 29 of them while committing just two receive errors. The Lady Hubs also finished with only three service errors despite totaling nine aces in the win.

“I think this is a really good group and I think that we can achieve some great things,” Atkinson said. “We have to keep working hard and I think we can be a great team by the end of the season. I’m hoping that we can pull out a regional win this season, which would be really awesome since this is my last year here. That’s what the seniors and I are really hoping for.”