Anna’s Ava Reed spikes as Houston’s Makenna Vondenhuevel, left, and Lauryn Crim defend on Tuesday at Anna.
Luke Gronneberg | Sidney Daily News
ANNA – The Anna Rockets took down the Houston Wildcats 3-0 in straight sets on Tuesday at Anna high school in a Shelby County Athletic League matchup.
The Rockets (11-6, 6-3) entered the contest with a 2-5 record over their previous seven matches, while the Wildcats (4-11, 1-8) were 0-4 in their last four coming into the matchup.
“I think for us, that last week we hit a rough patch in our schedule,” Anna head coach Kelli Zumberger said. “Our focus was putting everything together and I felt like you could see that tonight with our girls.”
The Rockets got out to a dominant start in the first set as they led 12-5 when the first time out was taken, and 20-9 at the second time out en route to a 25-9 victory.
Houston battled throughout the entire game with strong defense at the net and general scrappiness on the court.
“That’s kind of Houston’s motto,” Zumberger said. “They have some strong hitters and a great blocking unit. They’re a very scrappy defense and are still a very young team.”
Anna was able to take the second set in similar fashion to the first with a score of 25-11.
“We reminded our girls that they have to make adjustments,” Wildcats head coach Karissa Allen said in regards to battling adversity. “This is a whole new coaching staff with me being the only returning coach. It’s been a lot to adjust to, they get in their heads a lot, but they just have to adjust.”
In the third set, Houston made an adjustment.
Despite getting out to a big lead early in the set, the Rockets allowed the Wildcats to battle back to a 23-19 score.
After a few more intense volleys, the dust settled and Anna came out on top with a 25-21 win in set three for a 3-0 straight set match victory.
“We had some weird shots that I felt could have been more consistent for us,” Zumberger said. “That’s something that we’re definitely going to watch film on tomorrow and hopefully get better between now and Thursday.”
Houston is back on the court on Thursday where they will take on Jackson Center in Houston at 5:30 p.m.
The Rockets also next play on Thursday when they will take on Botkins at Botkins high school as they continue to chase SCAL frontrunners Fort Loramie (15-1, 8-0).
Reach assistant editor and sports writer Ryan Harless at 937-538-4651 or follow @RyanHarless_ on X (formerly Twitter)
