ROCKFORD — The Rochelle Lady Hub varsity volleyball team bounced back from a first-match loss in the Rockford Jefferson J-Hawk Invitational on Saturday, rallying for three consecutive victories to close the tournament out with a 3-1 record. Rochelle improved to 4-2 on the year.

The Lady Hubs opened the tournament against Woodstock, battling but falling short in a 19-25, 22-25 loss. Junior Addie Friestad led Rochelle with six kills, while sophomore Kennedy Adamski added three kills. Senior Sylvia Hasz recorded three kills, three aces and four digs in the match.

Recovering from the loss, Rochelle defeated Rockford Jefferson 26-24, 25-11 in its second match of the tournament. Hasz compiled five kills, five digs and two aces, while junior Payton Hale finished with five kills, three blocks and two aces. Freshman Dempsey Atkinson had five digs for the Lady Hubs, with Friestad chipping in three kills in the Rochelle victory.

“I thought we were a bit slow during the first match,” Friestad said. “We didn’t play to our potential, but we woke up and started playing much better once we started playing more matches. Our back row has definitely improved and our blocking has definitely gotten better. We need to keep passing the ball well because we’ll be facing tougher teams in the future.”

The Lady Hubs followed with another win in their third match of the tournament, beating Rockford East 25-15, 25-15 behind six aces from freshman Taelynn Rodeghero as well as six kills and two aces from Hasz. Friestad recorded four kills and Hale added two blocks in the win.

“Our young players have a very high ceiling and I think this season will show what they’re capable of doing for us over the next two or three years,” head coach Molly Sly said. “I hope we can get Taelynn going at the net because she has a great swing and a great vertical. We start our matches very well, but I want to see us finish strong and close out matches better.”

Rochelle closed the tournament out with a come-from-behind victory over Rockford Christian, winning 25-22, 25-18. Hale led the Lady Hubs with five kills, two aces and two blocks, while Adamski totaled four kills and Friestad pitched in three kills. Rodeghero had four aces.

“We played really well together,” Hale said. “We definitely need to work on our serve-receives, but our hitting was much better and we kept a lot more balls inbounds. I think we work together well and we communicate well. We definitely want to win a regional this year and I’m hoping we can go pretty far. I think I’ll have a bigger role with the team this year.”

Dixon

The Rochelle Lady Hub varsity volleyball team faced Dixon on the road this past Thursday, falling 21-25, 25-20, 21-25. Senior Sylvia Hasz totaled 10 kills and five aces, while freshman Dempsey Atkinson finished with five digs in place of starting libero Cassandra Garcia.