ROCHELLE — Scrappiness on defense and better attacks on offense allowed the Rochelle Lady Hub varsity volleyball team to hang tough during Wednesday’s match with LaSalle-Peru.

Looking to build on a strong second-set performance against Kaneland on Tuesday, Rochelle maintained pace with the Cavaliers for most of the match, showing improved serve receives and hustling to keep balls in the air on defense. The Lady Hubs were in position to extend the match to three sets, but a late rally from the Cavaliers enabled LaSalle-Peru to hand Rochelle a 20-25, 23-25 loss. The Lady Hubs (9-10, 0-3 Interstate 8) will face Morris on the road Tuesday, Oct. 1.

“We didn’t make too many adjustments from yesterday,” head coach Molly Sly said. “Our serve receive was solid and we were building on our second and third touches. I have to credit our back-row defenders because they were consistent all through the night. LaSalle-Peru has usually served well against us in the past, but that didn’t happen and our girls deserve credit.”

LaSalle-Peru held a small lead over Rochelle for most of the opening set, where senior Taelynn Rodeghero converted kills from both the outside and the right side to fuel the front-line attack for the Lady Hubs. A kill from Rodeghero forced a Cavalier timeout with LaSalle-Peru clinging to a 19-18 lead, but Rochelle was unable to close, as the Cavaliers finished the set on a 6-2 run. Rodeghero totaled eight kills and eight digs for the Lady Hubs on Wednesday evening.

Rochelle’s defense was the spark during the second set, where the Lady Hubs forced a LaSalle-Peru timeout with a 14-13 lead after a lengthy rally that included multiple digs from the Rochelle side. With juniors Meredith Bruns and Jaydin Dickey setting for the Rochelle offense, the Lady Hubs led by as many as four points before a quick 3-0 run by the Cavaliers led to a timeout. Bruns totaled 11 assists, while Dickey recorded nine assists, five kills and four digs.

“Jaydin and Meredith are talking between every serve and they’re running the show,” Sly said. “They’re letting their hitters know what to expect and I love seeing that from them. We played a fantastic second set against Kaneland and I thought we played two great sets tonight.”

LaSalle-Peru closed the match on a 10-4 run, with most of the offense coming from the middle area, where the Cavaliers converted multiple kills down the stretch. Senior Dempsey Atkinson finished with seven digs, while junior Audyn Kemp earned two kills and four blocks for the Lady Hubs. Sophomore Briel Metzger contributed seven kills to aid the Rochelle offense in the loss.