RHINEBECK — The Grundy Center volleyball team bounced back from a first-set blunder Tuesday night.
The Spartans came out swinging in the second set, overpowering Gladbrook-Rhinebeck with an aggressive attack and defeating the Rebels in four sets at Gladbrook-Rhinebeck High School.
Grundy Center won 22-25, 25-12, 25-13, 25-10 to improve to 14-7 overall and 2-1 in the NICL West, while GR lost 12-11 and 1-3, respectively.
“We just had to come out and be aggressive,” Grundy Center senior Kayden Mueller said, “It was like we had no motivation. We just had to be fired up and ready to go out there and play.”
Grundy led 15-9 in the first set, but GR fought back to tie the score at 18-18. The Rebels’ comeback also included a rally point when Kylie Larsen made a diving dig on a Spartan hit, but Grundy Center didn’t notice the dig until GR’s return was too late. The Spartans recovered and passed the ball back to the Rebels, but GR caught the visitors off guard and scored quickly. Grundy Center head coach Lori Willis considered the score a demoralizing blow.
“It’s a game changer,” Willis said. “I saw us out there and we were in a bad mood and we were sulking. When that happens, you have to make a choice to get out of there.”
It was the start of an 11-3 winning streak for the Rebels, setting the stage for Kennedy Brandt to close out the match with a couple of kills and a set-winning ace serve.
“I thought both teams were very competitive,” GR head coach Paula Kelly said, “We made passes all the way to the front row to take advantage of our swings and it played out the way we expected it to all night.”
After talking with the Spartans between sets, Willis learned that the Spartans team came out much more intense after the second set, as GR only led 1-0 at the start of the third set after winning the first set.
“It makes any coach proud when a team responds the way they did,” Willis said. “They forgot about what happened in the first set and just played super aggressive, went out there and fought and made it clear who we are and where we stand.”
Leading the way for Grundy were some talented underclassmen: sophomore Ryan Brubaker had a team-high 17 kills, sophomore libero Raelynn Steinmeyer was 24-of-24 on serves and had three aces, and freshman Trinity Jirofski had six kills.
The Spartans’ serving seemed to confuse the Rebels overall, with junior setter Lauren Zajac adding three aces and Kelly saying their passing from the back row struggled in the final three sets.
“Serving is one of the most important parts of the game,” Grundy Center senior Kayden Mueller said, “When you go into a match, it’s about not serving and getting out of (a disadvantage) like we were in.”
Grundy Center’s three seniors, Mueller, Paige Venenga and Karin Draper, are doing their part to help develop this team after the graduation of five key seniors from last season’s state semifinal team.
“It can be tough at times with the younger girls because they don’t know everything, but being able to help build this team and help boost their confidence is really encouraging for all of us,” said Benenga, who had nine kills and four aces Tuesday. “We’re all learning and growing as seniors, too.”
At 6-foot-7, Brubaker stands head and shoulders above the competition, literally, but he also sees room to grow, figuratively speaking.
“One of the things that most people don’t realize is that she’s grown a lot: trust. Trusting what we tell her, trusting the setters, trusting herself,” Willis said. “She doesn’t doubt herself as much anymore. Being 6-foot-7 is a big deal and there’s a lot of pressure that comes with it, but she’s handled it well and thrived. We keep telling her to be the best Ryan she can be today, not two or three years from now.”
Willis said she and assistant coach Landry Luhring are working with the upperclassmen to figure out what’s best for the team, which recently made some roster changes, moving Steinmeyer to libero and adding freshman Jenna Blythe to the rotation.
“We talk to our senior girls, we show them the stats, we show them what we’re thinking, we get them to look at different things,” Willis said, “so they get to buy into the program. When you have seniors that have that buy-in, they’re going to give their all for you, and that’s exactly what they are doing right now.”
Muller added: “It’s been great working with them. They’re not afraid to play, they’re aggressive and always have a good attitude. I think they’ll be a great asset to our team.”
For the Rebels, it’s a bit of a setback after beating Grundy Center in the North Tama Tournament earlier this month. It was the first time since 2009 that Grundy Center had beaten the Spartans.
“We weren’t as focused from start to finish as we were in the first game,” Kelly said. “Once we got down, we couldn’t come back and that’s something we need to improve on.”
GR is off until a triangular match against Hudson and Oelwein on Oct. 1. Grundy Center heads to Grinnell triangular play with Pella Christian on Thursday.
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