In Monday night’s volleyball season-opener against East Rutherford, Polk County struggled to get a pregame handshake between teammates exactly right. The National Anthem recording started half a beat late. The Wolverines’ scoreboard went out between the second and third games.
On the court, though? No problems.
Polk County built huge leads in games one and two and survived a back-and-forth battle in game three to take a 3-0 (25-9, 25-7, 25-19) win over the Cavaliers to start the season 1-0.
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Game 1 was one-sided from the start, as the Wolverines took a 14-3 lead and cruised to a 25-9 win in the opener. Reeve Carroll was phenomenal in the first, with six kills, six digs and a pair of service points. Kenzie Alm added two aces, and Beija Olivari added a kill and closed it with three straight service points, including an ace.
Game 2 was more of the same. Polk County built an 11-3 lead capped by a kill from Carroll and another ace from Alm, and pushed it to 16-4 on two more Olivari kills.
Meanwhile, the Wolverines played outstanding defense, allowing back-to-back points to East Rutherford just twice in the opening game and once in the second.
“In the third set we just kind of lost our mindset a little bit and got a little complacent, and I think that’s why it was one of the closer games,” Polk County coach Molly Hill said. “We kept them under a 30 percent side-out percentage for games one and two, and in the third set they went up to a little bit over 50 percent.
“But those are things we can control and things we can improve on, just finishing the game, keeping our stamina, that sort of thing. Getting in shape a little bit more, not getting too tired, finishing out a little stronger. Other than that, I thought it went really well.”
Carroll helped to lead the way, finishing with 11 kills and 15 digs on the night.
“Overall she’s playing really, really well,” Hill said. “She’s super strong, and we’re very pleased with how she’s doing. She was on vacation and missed a couple days at the beginning of the season, so I’m glad to have her back and she’s really stepping up for us.”
Freshman Kenzie Alm was another standout for the Wolverines, with three kills, nine assists, four digs and three aces.
“She’s been huge for us,” Hill said. “She’s so strong and she works so hard, and it doesn’t matter what I tell her. If it’s like I need you to do a cartwheel and then roll three times while you’re hitting the ball, she’s gonna be like ‘yes m’am’, and I love that about her. She’s super coachable. And knowing that she’s 14 and I’ve got four years with her, it’s just even more exciting.”
Olivari, in her first match back after missing last year with an injury, had five kills, five digs and two aces. Claire Lawrence had 11 digs, while Abby Lewis dished out 16 assists.
Polk County hits the road Thursday, traveling to R-S Central for a non-conference match.
