After beating the Central Cyclones in three sets on Tuesday evening, the Rouleau Rebels continued their hot streak with a lot more on the line.
The fifth-placed Rebels brought everything together for a 3-1 win over the fourth-placed Cyclones in senior girls quarter-final volleyball action on Thursday evening.
“It was a tough one. Any time we go on the court, our goal is to win the match,” stated Cyclones coach Joe Gunnis. “We had expectations to continue on in the city play downs, but it doesn’t always work out that way, but the girls went out there and they played a good game, left it on the court and as coaches, that’s all we can ask.”
Each of the sets were close with both teams battling, but it was the strong serving of the Rebels and the great action at the net that was able to sink the Cyclones. Rouleau won the opening set 25-23, Central was down late, but battled back for a 27-25 second set win and then Rouleau won the third set 25-19 and the fourth set 25-21.
“This is definitely what we wanted,” said Rebels coach Darrel Hall.
The Cyclones seemed to fight against themselves and couldn’t go on a run. They were battling with court coverage and lost on some close gambles along the lines.
“We would get things going fairly well and then it would just be that odd side of the inch and sometimes that happens in sports. The harder you try, sometimes it just doesn’t work out the way you want it to,” stated Gunnis. “It was a consistent effort and no body gave up. For me, that is the utmost importance.”
The Rebels have competed hard all season, but did have their struggles as a 1A classification school competing against 4A and 5A school in the league. The overall level of competition all season seemed to pay off when the game was on the line.
“Competing with other great teams and knowing that we can compete, the girls have a new found confidence,” stated Hall.
Even though the Cyclones had just seen Rouleau earlier in the week and knew what to expect, they tried their hardest to come up with some answers to the Rebels power game throughout the match.
“They are a scrappy team and they dig a lot of balls and are quick,” said Gunnis. “They play smart volleyball. Hats off to them, they did a great job.”
For more on this story, read an upcoming edition of the Times-Herald.
