STERLING With both teams struggling to get into their offense early Monday evening, it was the Dixon volleyball team that finally got on track with big runs in both sets to defeat Newman 25-20, 25-19 in a nonconference match in Sterling.

The Duchesses (2-1) scored six straight points early in the first set to jump out to an 11-4 lead, then had a stretch of six out of eight points later in the set to pull away. In the second set, Dixon scored 10 of 11 points midway through the set to turn a 14-12 deficit into a 22-15 lead.

[Photos from Dixon vs. Newman volleyball]

I dont think any of us felt we lost the momentum. The score goes back and forth, and theyre a great team, but we were right there the whole time, Dixon senior hitter Ella Govig said. It was a great game, honestly, and I think we never stopped. There were times where wed get down in the score a little bit, but we knew we had to keep our head up if we wanted to win it. We knew what we had to do, and we did it.

A Joey Brumbly ace tied the first set 3-3, then she served for two more points on Newman errors. Govig then set Sydney Hargrave for a kill, then Elexa Varden stuffed a block and Govig served an ace before two more Comet errors gave Dixon the 11-4 lead.

Newman (2-1) battled back, as Katie Grennan served a pair of aces before two Dixon errors got the Comets within 12-11. A Molly Olson kill then made it 13-12, but thats when the Duchesses found their second spurt.

Dixons Joey Brumbly hammers a spike against Newman's Katie Grennan (4) on Monday in Sterling. (Alex T. Paschal - apaschal@shawmedia.com/credit)

Brumbly spiked a kill, then Natalie Davidson served an ace before Govig ripped a kill. Another Govig kill a few points later made it 20-14, and Govig again spiked one home to end a Newman mini-surge highlighted by a pair of kills from Jess Johns.

Before the game we were kind of talking about what they like to do, and we knew that they had a couple strong hitters in the front row, especially their really tall middle, so we had to keep it away from her block, Brumbly said. When we started to do that, we built up a lead, and we kept our serves in, and our serving was a big part of our win.

Two more Johns kills got Newman within 22-18 and 23-19, and a Dixon error made it 23-20. But a Newman error and a Morgan Hargrave ace closed out the first set.

Instead of settling down and just playing our game, I think we kind of went into panic mode, Johns said. I dont think weve started a game behind this year, so I think that kind of freaked us out. Our communication was not where it needed to be to play our game.

The Comets jumped out a 4-1 lead in the second set, but a kill by Brumbly and two kills by Morgan Hargrave made it 5-4. A Johns block gave Newman the lead back a 6-5, then two straight Newman errors gave Dixon a 7-6 lead.

Olson spiked a kill to make it 8-8, then Kennedy Rowzee Newmans tall middle Brumbly referenced spiked a kill and Olson stuffed a block for a 10-8 Comet lead. A Sydney Hargrave kill and Govig block tied the score 10-10, but Rowzee set Grennan for a kill, then she and Brumbly traded a pair of kills each to make it 14-12 Newman.

Newmans Jess Johns spikes the ball against Dixon's Olivia Cox (20) on Monday in Sterling. (Alex T. Paschal - apaschal@shawmedia.com/credit)

Thats when the Duchesses pounced again.

As long as we kept our energy up, we never really felt like we were down, so it was really easy to build on, Davidson said. Everyone kind of built on each other, which really helps keep the momentum going. Its really fun when we do that.

A Newman error made it 14-13, then Govig served consecutive aces before an Olivia Cox block made it 16-14 Dixon. After a Dixon hitting error, Cox spiked a kill, then Varden stuffed a block and Morgan Hargrave ripped back-to-back kills for a 21-15 lead.

That really helps to get on those runs, because then it gets our student section energized too, so the hypes up and the momentum is ours, Brumbly said. We just get really excited for each other when we score, and our offense definitely flows better when we get on those runs.

A kill by Sophia Ely and consecutive hitting errors by Dixon got Newman back within 22-18, but a combo block by Varden and Sydney Hargrave stopped that Comets mini-run. Ely spiked another kill, but two Newman hitting errors ended the match.

I think our mindset, we tend to get down very easily if we get behind fast, but if we come out with a lot of power, we tend to stay up and build on that power, Davidson said. Of course, our student section was amazing, and that definitely helped with our energy. We do struggle with passing sometimes, so we work on it all the time, and we were able to come out and ultimately pass better than them.

Dixons Hanna Lengquist sets the ball against Newman on Monday in Sterling. (Alex T. Paschal - apaschal@shawmedia.com/credit)

Brumbly finished with five kills, five digs and four points, Govig added three kills and three blocks, and Varden also stuffed three blocks for Dixon. Sydney Hargrave had eight assists, four digs and two kills, Morgan Hargrave spiked four kills, Hanna Lengquist added seven digs, six points and five assists, and Davidson chipped in 11 digs and five points.

Johns led Newman with five kills to go with nine digs, and Olson added three kills, seven assists and eight digs. Rowzee had four kills, Sam Ackman led the way with 12 digs, and Grennan finished with five digs, four assists and two aces.

We never got in sync, Newman coach Debbi Kelly said. Our back-row players struggled with calling the long out-of-bounds balls right away, and it just led into more frustration. The nice thing is those are fixable things, and well get those fixed and move on from there. We just never could get in system where we could get our offense going. We went into panic mode and did not play our game.

Our communication wasnt great, and we were playing a lot of balls that were heading out of bounds. That didnt give us great passes, and our sets were off the net, and you cant do much with that, Johns added. Now its just moving on to the next game. I think how we come back next game will say a lot more about us as a team than this game will.

Newmans Molly Olson passes the ball against Dixon on Monday in Sterling. (Alex T. Paschal - apaschal@shawmedia.com/credit)

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Volleyball: Dixon rides momentum to road win over Newman - Sauk Valley Media