R-U drops match 3-0 at HMS

It was a long bus ride to Hartley for the Remsen-Union volleyball team but it was a longer ride back as the team was handed a 3-0 loss by the Hawks.

The Lady Rockets struggled in the first game as they lost by a 25-18 margin. It was a closer battle in the second game but the Hawks came through with a 25-21 win. In the decisive game three, it came down to a slim two-point margin but once again, HMS came through in the end with a 25-23 win over the Lady Rockets.

"We should have been able to win," said R-U's Kelly Weiler. "We were right there, we just couldn't finish it. We had the potential to win it but it just didn't happen."

"I don't know what it was. Our passes weren't getting anywhere," she continued. "Poor Cassie (Stoos) was running everywhere. We were hitting it hard, we just weren't hitting it down."

Gina Mae Frericks led the team in serving as she was 14-15. Cassie Stoos was 7-9 with an ace; Tasha Wurth was 5-7 and also recorded an ace. Diana Loutsch hit in three of seven serving attempts with two aces while teammate Katie Frericks was perfect with 5-5 serving.

Brittany Ruden and Wurth paced the team with three kills while Gina Mae Frericks had two on the night. Both Gina Mae Frericks and Katie Frericks recorded 12 digs apiece while Kelsey Paskert had seven on the night. Wurth was able to dig up six.

Setter Cassie Stoos led in the assists category with 12.

The Rockets were also in action this weekend as they competed in the West Monona tournament.

The team got off to a rocky start with a 1-2 loss to Logan-Magnolia. The Panthers came out swinging and were able to pin a 21-11 first game loss on the Lady Rockets. However, R-U got its revenge in game two as they edged L-M by a three point margin, 21-18. Unfortunately, the team could not hold on in game three and lost the game 15-11.

Ruden and Jen Ruba each had four kills in the match; Paskert had three for the team.

Ruba led the team in blocks with two and Stoos set up 11 assists from her setter position. Stoos also was 6-6 serving with six points. Paskert had four points and two aces; Wurth was 2-3 and also had two aces.

Stoos had eight digs to lead the team while teammate Annie Miller was able to dig up six in the match.

"There were a couple of times when it just depended on where the ball was going to land," said Weiler. "We played hard and gave everything we had."

R-U had more success in the second match of the day as they swept Whiting 2-0. After taking game one by a 21-15 margin, they came back to end the match with a 21-16 win over the Warriors.

Ruden and Ruba were tough at the net with three kills each. Paskert helped the duo with two of her own.

Stoos helped set up the trio with nine assists and was 3-5 at the service line with an ace. Gina Mae Frericks was 5-8 with two aces.

Stoos dug up seven balls while both Gina Mae Frericks and Katie Frericks recorded four apiece in the match.

However, the day ended early for the team after they were knocked out by a hard-hitting squad from Battle Creek - Ida Grove. The Falcons beat the Rockets by a 21-15 margin in game one before taking game two with a 21-12 win.

Ruden, Wurth and Ruba finished with two kills to lead the squad while Gina Mae Frericks recorded one in the loss.

However, Ruden was a force at the net with four blocks while Stoos was able to add one for R-U. Stoos finished with seven assists and 4-5 at the service line with one ace. Gina Mae Frericks was 9-9 with an ace while Miller was able to go 3-3 in the loss.

Gina Mae Frericks led the team with 12 digs while teammate Paskert had 11. Katie Frericks finished with nine and Stoos had seven in the match.

"It will be interesting to see how we play when we play them again," said Weiler. "I think we were tired and we gave it all we had at that point. We played well in these three games. I was very happy with the way we played considering we had homecoming the night before."

"By the end of the third game, you could tell the girls were really getting tired. There were several times when they could have given up and they didn't and got another win out of it."

The Lady Rockets will next be in action tonight as they host Odebolt-Arthur in Western Valley Conference play before hosting a triangular on Thursday with Woodbury Central and River Valley.