Volleyball: Irish come back strong with two straight

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If Rosemount volleyball coach Kristin Helgeson was wondering how her young and inexperienced team would handle its first bit of adversity, she got her answer this past week.

The Irish — with several players receiving their first extensive varsity playing time — responded to a 3-0 loss to Farmington in the season-opener by winning its next two games.

And the youthful Irish also earned the wins in two very different circumstances.

Rosemount traveled to New Prague and earned an 18-25, 25-15, 29-27, 21-25, and 15-8 victory. On Tuesday, the Irish hosted Park and won 25-3, 25-11, and 25-14.

Rosemount showed the ability to handle a tough, five-game, back-and-forth battle, and also cruised to an easy win.

“We have a lot of athletes that were playing five games for the first time ever,” Helgeson said. “The key in a fifth game is to jump out right away. We were able to do that and finish the game. The key is everyone has been playing well the last two matches. They are doing their part and playing well. That is why we are so successful right now.”

Paige Petersen led the way for the Irish against New Prague, tallying 21 kills and 20 digs.

“It’s her fourth year on the varsity and it was by far her best match,” Helgeson said. “She is playing well. She is swinging on the outside. Last year she was on the right side. She is starting to get into a groove, which is good.”

Rosemount was strong at the net defensively.

Elaine Warner had seven blocks and Natalie Busher had five blocks.

Busher added five kills and Jillian Blanc came off the bench with 10 kills.

Jordan Hinkle had 15 digs, while Sharon Flom dug nine balls.

In the double-setter attack, Mikaela Sullivan had 21 assists and Hannah Buecksler finished with 19 assists.

“We played hard all the way,” Helgeson said. “They were able to keep their intensity and we rebounded from mistakes.”

There weren’t many mistakes in the sweep of Park.

Petersen finished with 12 kills. Zoe Peterson added eight kills. Sullivan finished with 18 assists and four service aces.

“It was a section opponent, so it’s a good win,” Helgeson said. “They’re fairly young, but we were able to keep our intensity and really limited our errors.”

Tags: sports, volleyball