ROCHELLE — Clare Green and her Lady Hub teammates were motivated to avenge their three-set loss against Morris earlier this season. The Rochelle volleyball team had its chance on Thursday, and while they may have started slowly, the Lady Hubs capitalized on their opportunity with a dominant performance near the end of the match.

Trailing the Redskins 14-11 in the third set, Rochelle rallied for five consecutive points to force a Morris timeout and take a slim lead, which soon exploded after the Lady Hubs ignited a 9-1 run resulting in a thrilling three-set victory for the purple and white. Rochelle defeated the Redskins 20-25, 25-21, 25-15 to snap a three-match losing streak and improve to 18-15 overall. Green recorded a double-double for the Lady Hubs, totaling 23 assists and 10 digs in the win.

“We all really wanted this win and we were really positive throughout the match,” Green said. “We had 1-or-2 girls going for every ball no matter what. We really wanted this win and we wanted to get after them and not make it close. We found our motivation and our will to win. We continued to fight throughout the match.”

Despite the Redskins serving five balls into the net during the first set, Morris managed to pull ahead early and take advantage of some misplays by the Lady Hubs. The Rochelle front stepped up in the second set, with junior Afi Gati blocking back-to-back shots by the Redskins to help the Lady Hubs lead 14-9. Both teams exchanged short runs soon after, with Morris coming as close as 22-20 before Rochelle evened the match with a brief 3-1 spurt.

“Our blocks were working against us in the first set,” head coach Molly Sly said. “The girls were able to adjust and our blocks started working for us. We had multiple blocks in both the second and third sets, and we didn’t have that in the first set. I think that was the difference.”

Rochelle leaned on its veteran players toward the end of the match, and the Lady Hubs delivered by scoring 14-of-15 points down the stretch. Many of those points resulted from Green assists and outside kills from seniors Katie Van Hise and Maggie Duval, who combined for 20 in the victory. Rochelle will wrap up the regular season with conference matches against Ottawa and Plano next week before tipping off the IHSA Class 3A Regional at RTHS.

“The way we finished the third set is what it’s going to take in order to extend our season,” Sly said. “When the going gets tough, we need to grit our teeth and go harder. We told each other at the end of the match that we need to go out there and take it.”

LaSalle-Peru

The Rochelle volleyball team faced LaSalle-Peru on the road Tuesday, losing 11-25, 14-25. Juniors Clare Green and Ellie Kinn each totaled eight digs while Green added 10 assists and senior Katie Van Hise finished with five kills.