Girls volleyball: Hall cruises to 2-set win over Mendota

SPRING VALLEY – The Hall girls volleyball team came into Tuesday’s match wanting to show continued improvement, and the Red Devils succeeded as they dominated rival Mendota 25-10, 25-8 in Three Rivers Conference East Division action at Red Devil Gymnasium.

“We’ve come a long way, and we’re still a young team,” Hall coach Carolyn Foster said. “I think we’re going to have a nice season. I think the hard work that they’ve put in during the summer is showing and I can’t wait to see where they go from here.”

The Red Devils wasted little time asserting their dominance as Kaitlyn Coutts blasted a kill into the corner to get the scoring started.

After Mendota sent a shot into the net for the Spikers, Coutts served an ace to put Hall ahead 3-1.

With the Red Devils leading 7-3, Hall went on a 9-0 run that started with Mendota sending a shot wide and then another ace, this time by Hall’s Charlie Pellegrini.

The Hall defense was impressive, as well, rarely allowing a ball to hit the ground and taking the wind out of the Spikers’ sails.

“It can be deflating at times when you get a big hit and it gets sent back over,” Mendota coach Demi Salazar said. “But like I told the girls, if you get the ball over you’re giving yourself a chance to win the point.”

Foster said defense has been an emphasis.

“The funny thing is in practice if the ball hits the ground we have to run, so the girls have worked hard at not letting the ball hit the ground,” Foster said, laughing. “Two service errors in a row and we run, so to say the girls have worked hard at never being content and going after every ball is an understatement.”

After Mendota called timeout, Pellegrini served another ace, as she did a few points later to cap the 9-0 run and put Hall ahead comfortably 16-3.

After a pair of Hall mishits and another shot that landed just wide, Elaina Reddin found a spot in the Hall defense and got the point to cut Mendota’s deficit to 17-8.

Three more mishits by the Spikers forced a timeout with Hall leading 21-8. Coutts, Pellegrini and Kennedy Wozniak were just a few of the Red Devils flying around the court for digs as the Red Devils cruised to a 25-10 first set victory.

The second set started out much like the first as Morgan Hoscheid served up an ace to put Hall on the board first.

After a cross-court kill from Laylie Denault tied the set early, a service error by Mendota gave the ball back to Hall, which got another ace from Coutts and then Natalia Zamora picked up a point as her shot went off the block attempt for a 4-1 advantage.

Moments later, Wozniak hit a big shot off the Mendota block, then Evelyn Bryant served an ace as the Red Devils’ lead grew to 7-2.

Mendota got a sideout with a touch shot from Harlow Folty, but Hall came right back with a shot from Caroline Morris that went off a Mendota defender.

After a pair of mishits from the Spikers, the Hall lead grew to 11-4 before Wozniak blasted another Hall ace that extended the lead to 12-4.

A quick hit from Ella Martin got Mendota back on the board, but a mishit and a pass that was slightly off gave Hall the ball back with a 14-5 edge.

“Our quick hits weren’t working tonight and our passes were a little off,” Salazar said. “Those things add up over the course of the match, but our tips worked a bit. We just didn’t do it much, but the girls are working hard, so I’m confident we’ll get where we want to be.”

Hall got a quick hit from Zamora and two points later a combined block from Coutts and Zamora extended the Red Devils lead to 17-5.

Mendota got an ace from freshman Zariah Escatel, but a pair of errors from the Spikers and an ace from Coutts ended the match.