A point saved is a point earned…Russia’s Celeste Borchers got to it just in time to save a point in set #1 of Tuesday’s win over Anna. (Press Pros Feature Photos)
Russia improved to .500 and stayed unbeaten in league play Tuesday with a defensive clinic and enough offense to beat Anna in straight sets.
Russia, OH – Ask any coach in any sport and see if he or she doesn’t tell you…defense wins games.
Tuesday night Russia coach Aaron Watkins gave it a bit of a different twist with this variation…defense keeps you in games until you get enough offense to win.
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And that’s how the Raiders (2-2, 2-0 in SCL play) got by a good Anna team that played hard and battled what coaches call ‘getting out of system’ with their serve receive for two of the three sets. And by the time they got some breaks and things ironed out…it was too late. It was just Russia’s night.
“When you play Anna Kelli (Zumberger) always has a scrappy team,” said Watkins, post-game. “And our defense got us going tonight…kept points alive until we could score. And anytime you can keep points alive in a match like this…a big 3-0 win against them is huge, and we’ve focused on defense to make the most of our athleticism.”
It’s not as flashy – defense – and it’s not as fun. In volleyball, particularly, it can be painful and it leaves bruises. But if you can sell it – if you can win with it – it can become habit-forming because winning is fun. The bruises disappear and the skin grows back on scuffed-up elbows. The offense tends to come with time, and credit to Anna on Tuesday…but it simply took them too long to play their best volleyball.
They traded points for a good portion of the first set, while Russia robbed the Rockets of some points that would have touched the floor on most nights. But not Tuesday, as it set up a rally at 17-16 where the Raiders’ Celeste Borchers wiped out the front row of Anna’s defense with a pair of booming kills that suddenly ignited some offensive hope for Russia, pushed them to a 21-17 lead, and four points later a 25-19 win.
Eyeing the kill…Russia’s Celeste Borchers focuses on a would-be point at the net during Tuesday’s match with the Anna Rockets.
Again in the second set the two teams traded points as Russia began to exploit some serve-receive issues for Anna, which in turn created additional opportunities for the Raiders to set their defense, block efficiently, and take advantage of errant leaves at the net. At 15-12, Russia, one of those errant placements of the ball fell into the lap of setter Ava Gibson and she rifled it cross-court for another tough moment, defensively, for Anna. Because, like Russia, the Rockets were playing pretty good defense of their own – scrappy, Watkins called it – hoping that their ‘system’ on offense would soon come around.
But not yet, and not in time, as Russia cruised to a 25-20 win to take the set.
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Anna’s serve-receive issues left them disarmed at the start of the third set as Russia raced out to a 10-2, forcing Kelli Zumberger to call a time out. And whatever Zumberger said in those sixty seconds paid immediate dividends.. Out of the timeout the Rockets went on their best offensive spurt of the night, an 8-0 run to tie the score at 10-10 and flip the momentum of the match, if for only a time.
Suddenly Russia looked tired, perhaps worse for the wear from all the digs and scrapes. But Anna could not sustain that momentum, that run, instead trading points back and forth with Russia until the Rockets finally took a 24-23 lead.
Anna’s Ava Reed blasts a point through the block attempt of Russia’s Claudia Hoehne.
“It came down to our serve-receive,” said Zumberger. “If you look at the stats it stands out. Russia really did a good job of picking us apart. But I thought our girls did well, though, even out of system. And that’s tough in high school volleyball. We put some balls away, even out of system, and Elaina Brandewie had a heckuva’ game. She was there in the middle and did a really good job of ‘owning’ it.
“And Callie Gehret did a good job of serving at them during that run [in the third set] and getting them out of system, and that was the difference. It’s whoever can pass the ball better and Russia did a better job of that tonight.”
Still, the third was tied at 24-24…Anna went ahead 25-24…Russia tied it at 25-25, went ahead 26-25, and finally won the match on a kill by Aryana Cordonnier that bounced off a couple of Rocket blockers before hitting the floor.
“I was happy, obviously, with the win, but against a team like Anna where you can keep the ball alive with your defense…and we have size with our blocking,” said Watkins. “We get a lot of touches on the ball and that helps anyone playing in the back row for us. I’m just excited. I thought we played really well. We were composed. And we played pretty cleaned.”
“I’m excited,” said Aaron Watkins. “I thought we played really well. We were composed, and we played clean.”
What he didn’t mention…was youth. This is a Russia team with size and athleticism, willing to play defense until they can score…and there’s only two seniors on it, a team consisting largely of sophomores and juniors.
For years Watkins has said throughout that their goal is a district final, which may be premature just four games into the season. But odds are they won’t finish 13-13 again in 2025 (they did last year), and that ability to scrap, and claw, and frustrate will eventually smooth out a bit.
They say that steel sharpens steel…trial by fire? Russia plays both defending champions in Division VI (Coldwater) and VII (Loramie, twice). The prospect delights Aaron Watkins. He liked what he saw Tuesday.
And expects nothing but something better down the road. A district final, perhaps.
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