MAPLE PARK — The Rochelle Lady Hubs made Kaneland work for every point during the second set of the team’s Interstate 8 Conference varsity volleyball match Tuesday evening.

Rochelle forced two Kaneland timeouts and held the Knights off on five match points toward the end of the second set. Despite a valiant effort from the Lady Hubs, Kaneland managed to break through in the end, hitting a kill shot that landed in the back of the Rochelle zone to clinch the match and hand the Lady Hubs an 11-25, 28-30 loss. Rochelle (9-9, 0-2 Interstate 8) will try again for its first conference win when the team hosts LaSalle-Peru on Wednesday night.

“We made some game-time adjustments,” head coach Molly Sly said. “We switched our defense up a little bit and our block made the right adjustment in the second set. We talked about making game-time adjustments after losing the first set and I thought the girls did exactly that.”

While the second set was competitive down to the final point, the first set was dominated by the Knights, who opened the match on an 11-3 run that required Rochelle to use the first of its two timeouts. Kaneland showed no signs of slowing down, as the Lady Hubs struggled to match the fast-paced offense of the Knights, who also capitalized on passing and hitting errors on the Rochelle side. Kaneland built a 21-9 lead before Rochelle burned its second timeout of the set.

“We were not ready for their tempo,” Sly said. “We were on our heels and we weren’t playing like a team in that first set. The girls played with tempo in the second set, which was fantastic.”

Needing a spark after a lackluster opening set, Rochelle saw multiple players step up to help the Lady Hubs gain an early lead over the Knights in the second set. With Kaneland focused on containing senior outside hitter Taelynn Rodeghero, Rochelle found success attacking from the middle, where junior Audyn Kemp totaled a team-high five kills. A service rally led by junior Jaydin Dickey, who had six digs, six assists and two kills, put the Lady Hubs ahead 15-14.

“Jaydin’s a great passer and she reacts well to the ball,” Sly said. “We saw that from her in the second set and we’ve been waiting to see more out of her. It was awesome to see that tonight. Kaneland made nice cuts at her and she dug them up and gave our setters great touches.”

Rochelle and Kaneland went point for point as the second set progressed, with neither team leading by more than two points. The Knights took a 22-20 lead and forced a Rochelle timeout after a tipped ball at the net, but the Lady Hubs responded with a quick 3-1 run that junior Meredith Bruns sparked with a fantastic one-handed dig. Bruns collected eight digs and eight assists for the Lady Hubs, who made Kaneland burn a timeout with the score tied at 23-23.

A strong kill from Kemp and a tip from Rodeghero on the outside were just a few of the plays that helped Rochelle fend off the Knights on match point before Kaneland ultimately sealed the match at the end. Rodeghero finished with four kills and seven digs with one block, while Kemp led the front-row defense with two blocks. Senior libero Dempsey Atkinson had eight digs.