By Terry Duckett, tduckett@qconline.com
ERIE -- Halfway through the Three Rivers Conference volleyball race, the Riverdale Rams are standing tall atop the league with a 7-0 record.
However, coach Lisa Black's club had to work harder to keep its perfect conference mark intact when it visited rival Erie Thursday evening. After battling their way to a 26-24 victory in the first game, the Rams were able to cash in on some untimely Cardinal errors and roll to a 25-13 win in the nightcap.
"I think we're right at where we want to be, but we're still a pretty young team.With our experience, we have to keep things in perspective,'' said Black, whose squad moves to 12-2. "In the first game, we didn't quite play to the level we should've been. We missed quite a bit of serves, and while Erie had a decent serve-receive and stuck with us, at this point, we should be more focused.''
Fortunately for Riverdale, it was able to maintain its focus after Erie (5-9, 2-3 TRAC-8) opened up a 16-12 lead in the first game. With the Cardinals up 20-17, the Rams battled back, and the teams played hot potato with the lead before the Rams tied the score at 24 on a Lauren Ickes kill, then won the game on back-to-back Victoria May kills.
"I wish that first game could've gone the other way,'' said Erie coach Chelsea Jaquet. "I'm proud of how our girls played in the first game; they came out with a lot of intensity, and I was hoping our win on Tuesday (a three-game victory over Prophetstown) would carry over into tonight. But you hate to have a team like Riverdale with the momentum on their side.''
Alex Hunter turned in a solid outing for Erie with six kills and three blocks, supported by teammates Tess Burns (eight assists, three digs) and Taylor Ryan (three kills, three aces, three digs), but that wasn't enough to counter Riverdale's depth.
Ickes (six kills, four blocks) and MalloryGibson (nine kills) led the way up front for the Rams. May dished 11 assists in addition to her four kills. Kaitlyn Kenady added nine assists, and Olivia Glaudel recorded six digs.
"Any time you win the first game, you want to bring that momentum into the next one,'' said Black, "and we were able to keep that momentum in the second game.''
Now, the Rams hope to keep momentum on their side as they head into the second half of the TRAC-8 race.