Girls volleyball: Newman holds off Princeton in Volley for the Cure match

STERLING – The Newman Comets and Princeton Tigresses went back and forth in a two-set Volley for the Cure match Thursday evening at Newman. Both sets were tight throughout, with neither team leading by more than four points at any point.

The Comets ultimately prevailed, getting timely points in both sets to fend off the Tigresses 26-24, 27-25 and improve to 22-3-1 on the season.

Princeton (16-16-1) took charge early in the first set after giving up the first two points. Mariska Mount served consecutive aces after a Karsyn Brucker kill to take a 5-2 lead. The Tigresses held that lead up to 10-9 before Newman’s Kennedy Rowzee put down a block to tie it 10-all. The set was back-and-forth from there up until a tie at 24. Newman’s Jess Johns scored the final two points to seal the win, burying a cross-court shot just inside of the sideline, then spiking another ball to the opposite side.

“I think, especially going into postseason, that’s really good, playing with our backs up against the wall,” Johns said. “Also, not letting the other team get on a run, because that can be very detrimental to your team. Just knowing that the next ball is coming and you have to put it down to start on another run.”

After three straight hitting errors to open the second set, Princeton rallied and surged ahead to a 9-5 lead. A Newman hitting error put the Tigresses up 6-5, then Caroline Keutzer put down a block and tipped in a kill around a Chrissy Sierens block to establish the four-point lead.

Newman’s Ellie Rude served an ace to cap a four-point run, tying the set 9-9, and the lead changes continued from there.

Princeton nearly forced a third set after a Newman hitting error gave it a 25-24 lead, but Johns slammed two kills around a Sophia Ely ace to seal the Comets’ win.

“I think going into postseason really soon, we’re just trying to play it point by point,” Newman senior libero Addison Foster said. “And when it gets close, just keep our composure and work as a team.”

Johns totaled 15 kills and six digs; Rowzee had seven kills and two blocks; Foster tallied 14 digs; Molly Olson compiled 22 assists, six digs, 1.5 blocks and two kills; and Sam Ackman added five digs for Newman.

“I think it was really good,” Foster said about the overall team effort. “I think we really focused on getting our off-blockers in, and our back row has really been better at reading the ball, because we’ve kind of been a second late in our past games, and I think we’ve really gotten under the ball right now.”

Natasha Faber-Fox totaled 21 assists and four digs; Keutzer had six kills and three blocks; Miyah Fox had nine digs; Keighley Davis tallied five kills and two blocks; Brucker had five kills; and Sierens added three kills and three blocks for Princeton.

“As a coach, I’m extremely happy when our team executes what we work on in practice, and that transferred tonight from last week’s practice,” Princeton coach Adam Puck said. “I can’t be happier. We’re starting to make strides and trusting each other in more ways, and trusting our own abilities and being aggressive at times that we need to be. And it’s the right time of the year where we’re starting to peak.

“Even though we had a loss, Newman’s dynamite. [Coach] Debbi [Kelly] does a phenomenal job. I think this is, what, five or six conference titles in a row they’ve won? They’re a fun team to play. They’re always dynamite. And tonight was the first time this year that we actually matched up, I think, pretty evenly with them. A point here, a point there, it could be a different match. I’m really, really, really proud of my kids just on how we’ve developed from the beginning of the season until the end of the season.”