ROCHELLE — Lady Hub senior Sylvia Hasz had been waiting all summer to start her final high school season with the Rochelle varsity volleyball team. The two-time Interstate 8 First Team player returned to the floor in a big way on Tuesday, leading Rochelle with nine kills as the Lady Hubs took down Ashton-Franklin Center 25-11, 25-13 to start the season with a 1-0 record.

Although Rochelle had several new starters in the varsity lineup, the Lady Hubs opened the match with tempo and found their rhythm early, exploding for a 7-1 run in the first set. Junior Macy Ramos paced the Lady Hubs on the serve, while Hasz netted multiple kill shots to force the Raiders into an early timeout. Freshman hitter Taelynn Rodeghero stepped up with three aces soon after, extending Rochelle’s lead to 17-8 and forcing another A-FC timeout.

“I’ve wanted to play so bad and I want to leave everything out there because it’s my senior season,” Hasz said. “It felt great being out there. It was the first time playing varsity volleyball for a lot of my teammates, but I thought they did really well and we were able to create momentum early in the match. As one of the only seniors, I feel like I have to be a more vocal leader and be more talkative on the court. I need to keep everyone together and moving.”

Junior Payton Hale, one of the varsity team’s few returning starters, scored two quick aces in the second set to give the Lady Hubs an early lead. A kill from Rodeghero from the right side helped Rochelle gain a 10-6 advantage before junior Addie Friestad swung for two kills on the outside to make it a 13-8 set. Leading 18-12 in the second set, Rochelle closed out its season-opening victory with a 7-1 run that culminated in a service ace from junior Isela Vasquez.

Vasquez paced the Lady Hub offense with seven assists, while Hale and Rodeghero each finished with three aces. Friestad had four kills for the Lady Hubs, who face Dixon on the road Thursday at 6 p.m. Hale and Hasz combined for five assists in the win over the Raiders.

“We have to put our all out there in every set,” Hasz said. “We know we can play well if we give it our all and we don’t hesitate or second-guess ourselves. We definitely have some high IQ hitters, but we need to work more on our first touches and our passing. I know those are things we can improve on during practice and we can continue to get better in those areas.”