Puttin' on the hits

Rock Falls’ Nicole Ellis sets the ball Tuesday during a match against Princeton. (Philip Marruffo/SVN)

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ROCK FALLS - Bailey Johnston knew she had to just stay aggressive and her spikes would start falling in bounds. The Princeton Tigresses followed the Rock Falls senior's lead. After a slow start in Game 1, Johnston finished with 10 kills and two kill blocks for the Rockets. But Princeton spread the wealth and took home a 25-22, 24-26, 25-19 victory in NCIC Lincoln play Tuesday at Tabor Gym. The Rockets (10-15, 2-4) bounced back after an opening-game loss and forced Game 3 thanks to Johnston and Vicki Jones. Johnston had three kills and a kill block in Rock Falls' first six points. Jones then ripped a pair of kills and served the point to end the second game. "It was exhilarating," said Jones, who finished with five kills and five points. "It felt so good to come up big for the team. I wanted the ball so badly tonight, especially at the end of the second game, and I felt really comfortable calling for it." The fast start in the second game was a quick turnaround for Johnston, who saw every one of her spikes go out of bounds in the first game. Most were too long, but a talk with coach Sheila Mammosser helped Johnston pick up her game. "I was way too behind the ball in that first game; that's why the hits kept going out of bounds," Johnston explained. "Between games, the coaches told me what I was doing wrong and I adjusted and fixed it." Princeton (17-8-1, 4-2) had the same problem in Game 2, with hitting and service errors giving the Rockets plenty of free points. So what did the Tigresses do about it? "We just wanted to stay aggressive and keep hitting hard, and we finally got into the groove," setter Molly Stephens said. "I have a lot of options [to set to], and our offense finally started flowing there in the last game." The only time in the match either team had real momentum going was the deciding game. Back-to-back kills by Leah Shaw and Tara Bonucci gave Princeton an 11-6 edge, then Jacquie Kane had three kills and a block in a five-point span to make it 19-11. Rock Falls battled back thanks to some hitting errors, but Shaw and Kane finished off the Rockets with consecutive kills. Shaw had a match-high with 17 kills, but the other Princeton hitters also had success. Kane ripped 11 kills, Bonucci had five kills and Sarah Schlund finished with six kills and four kill blocks. Princeton had 45 kills in the match, and Stephens dished out 35 assists. Shelby Caudillo (18 digs) and Lauren Bell (13 digs) led the way in a stellar performance by the Rockets' back row. "The defense could not have played any better," Mammosser said. "We take a lot of pride in that, and I thought all my girls in the back row played very, very well tonight. They gave us exactly what we needed." "They're always so scrappy," Stephens said of the Rockets, "and you can't ever let up when you play them."