Lady Devils Win at Princeton
20-25, 27-25, 25-12
Jared Bell- News Tribune Staff
October 16, 2009
Lady Devils pull out heart-pounding win over Tigresses
By Jared Bell
PRINCETON — Hall volleyball coach Dani Zellmer might be young to
have a heart attack, but her team nearly gave her one Thursday
against Princeton.
After letting the first set slip away, Hall rallied from a 21-18
second-set deficit and Princeton got caught up in a Nett in the
third set as the Red Devils left town with a 20-25, 27-25, 25-12
victory over their Bureau County rival.
“That whole game I couldn’t catch my breath. I was so excited,”
Zellmer said. “Princeton is definitely our big rival and they
always bring their A-game. It just felt good. I think I can speak
for the girls on that one. We needed it and we needed a little pick
me up.”
The win appeared to be in Princeton’s grasp following a 5-0 run in
the second set to make it 21-18, but following a Zellmer timeout,
Hall (9-18, 2-6 NCIC Lincoln) went on a 9-4 rally to take the
second set and a 34-16 streak to end the match and earn the victory
over the Tigresses (22-4-1, 5-3 NCIC Lincoln).
“Two words I said at the beginning of the match tonight, ‘Play
hard’ and they didn’t. That’s all there is to it,” said Princeton
head coach Andy Puck. “We showed glimpses where we were trying to,
but we just didn’t play hard. When you don’t play hard, you
hesitate, you think. And when you think, you don’t play well and
make mistakes. These kids are supposed to anticipate things and we
didn’t anticipate. They didn’t execute one thing tonight that we
worked on in practice, and that’s the reason why we got beat.”
Hall carried its second-set momentum into the third set, where the
Red Devils dominated in all facets. Hall took a 1-0 lead on a Kelle
Nett block and never trailed the rest of the set.
Nett, the team’s driving force, had five blocks for points and two
kills in the final set.
“She was a definite leader out their on the court,” Zellmer said.
“Every time she went up she was getting full force, full swings.
There was no tipping tonight. It was nice.”
Despite giving up the early advantage in the final set, Princeton
battled back from three three-point deficits to pull to 7-6, but
Hall took off there. Back-to-back points off the serve of Brigitte
Klein made it 9-6 before the Red Devils went on an 8-0 run that was
fueled by its strong play. During the rally, Nett had two blocks
and a kill, Mickey Victor added two kills and Katelyn Raineri
served up an ace. The run pushed the lead to 17-7.
“I already knew that these girls can do it,” Zellmer said. “I knew
what this team was about and it’s great to finally see them back
and see them smile again. That’s what I’m excited for.”
Hall’s fortunes turned at the net, where the team had 19 blocks for
a point, which was more than a fourth of all their total points.
“They absolutely dominated us at the net,” Puck said. “They blocked
everything and we didn’t cover our hitters the way we’re supposed
to. You don’t cover your hitters the way your supposed to, easy
balls are dropped. They’re still thinking about it and the next
thing you know, Hall’s ripping off three, four, five serves in a
row because we’re still thinking about the last three, four, five
plays.”
After falling behind 18-8, Puck conceded and put in his
reserves.
“By no means, take nothing away from Hall. They played extremely
well,” Puck said. “Dani’s done a good job with them. They pushed
and we didn’t push back.”
Down 19-17, Princeton closed the first set on an 8-1 run to earn
the win and used the 5-0 rally to take a 21-18 lead in the second
set, but Hall responded with kills from Klein and Nett to pull back
in it and used kills from Raineri and Nett to take leads. After a
seesawing for control, a Nett kill and a Nett block gave Hall the
second-set win.
Nett led Hall with nine kills and a team-high nine blocks. Victor
led the Red Devils with 10 kills, while Raineri finished with 12
points, three aces, eight kills and six digs. Johnna Schultz had 21
assists and Christina Richardson chipped in 11 assists, eight
points and seven digs.
After wins at Mendota and IVC, the loss all but ends Princeton’s
hopes of winning or sharing the NCIC Lincoln title after losing its
third conference game, all at home.
“I have a problem with my kids not having any leadership,” Puck
said. “I stood there waiting for them to take control, to take
control, to take control, and they never did. I am a coach, but I’m
not a miracle worker. The things that I say they know already.”
