Having just played the Knights at Saturday’s Russell-Tyler-Ruthton volleyball tournament, the Edgerton Flying Dutchmen knew what they had to do to earn another victory against the Knights Monday evening – stay focused, use a quick transition game and communicate.
The Flying Dutchmen did all of those things fairly well in beating the Knights, 25-20, 25-10, 16-25, 25-15, in a non-conference contest in Tyler.
“I thought we moved pretty well, we dug up a lot of balls and communicated better than we have,” Edgerton head coach Randy Butson said following the match. “We kept the pressure on them early; we were able to get some pretty good attacks, passed the ball well and put them on the defensive, so they gave us some free balls back.”
The Flying Dutchmen (9-8) took some time to warm up Monday night, as did the Knights (5-15). Both teams appeared reluctant to make a mistake, and the early points were decided after long rallies. The Knights’ Cristina Fehrman (three kills, two ace blocks) snuffed the shot of Edgerton’s Kelsey Wolthuizen to help the hosts earn a 7-4 lead, but the Flying Dutchmen hitter fired right back.
Wolthuizen (match-high 17 kills, two ace blocks) didn’t let Fehrman’s block affect her game and kept the pressure on the Knights with several shots through the heart of the R-T-R defense. Her kill off a precision set from senior Maci Butson (28 set assists) pulled the visitors even at 7-all and targeted the senior middle as the player to watch.
“I was able to get into a groove early,” said Wolthuizen, who was 39-of-44 on attacks for the match. “I received some good sets and good passes, and when you have those two things, you can go out and hit. Maci has had a great season. She puts it (the ball) just where I like it; she knows when I want it, where I’m going to hit it well, and it’s worked well for both of us.”
Some solid serving from Kayla VanGrootheest (17 points, four aces) helped Edgerton pull away by a few points, but the Knights had some success at the net through Lindsey Willert (four kills) and Casey Thooft (10 kills) to knot the score again, 12-all.
Neither team could gain an advantage during the next couple of rallies, but a big hit off the block by Wolthuizen sparked an 11-6 run by the Flying Dutchmen and, before the Knights knew what hit them, Edgerton had a game point. Alyson Drooger (13-of-16 attacking, six kills) finished off the game with a thundering blow down the left sideline to give the Flying Dutchmen a 1-0 advantage in games.
“It wasn’t one certain thing tonight, it was everything – we didn’t move or communicate very well,” R-T-R head coach Neil Witte said. “Sometimes you get in those runs where you can’t pull yourselves out of it, and the only way you can do that is by talking and get something positive going.”
That didn’t happen for the Knights until Game 3, and the Flying Dutchmen were on the verge of a sweep after Game 2.
Behind the serving of Emily Sluis (10 points serving, 13 digs), the Flying Dutchmen ripped off five consecutive points to open the second tilt. R-T-R managed to earn two markers on errant hits by Edgerton, but the Knights struggled to find an offensive rhythm while the Flying Dutchmen were moving the ball so well in transition. Hit after hit forced the Knights back on their heels and passes seldom found their intended targets.
Leading by 10 points (14-4), the Flying Dutchmen kept the pressure on the Knights as serves found the hardwood with regularity and Wolthuizen hammered away. Two timeouts by the hosts did little to quell the onslaught, and the Flying Dutchmen cruised to an easy victory for a 2-0 advantage in games.
“We couldn’t get a streak of any kind going in Game 2,” Witte said. “I have to give the kids credit though, they came back in the third game and started playing like they’re capable of playing. We didn’t make many errors, really played aggressive with the ball and played solid defense.”
Game 3 was almost a mirror image of the second tilt, as R-T-R lifted its game and Edgerton appeared to lose some of its focus. Opening up a quick 4-0 lead, the Knights never trailed in the game. Thooft sparked the offense with several blasts from the left side, Sam Neyens (11-of-14, three aces, four solo blocks) served well and Jade Possail (16 digs) and Casey Goodmund (11 digs) bolstered the defense with quick feet and accurate passes to Chelbi Welvaert (23 set assists, 11 digs).
Meanwhile, the Flying Dutchmen were put on the defensive. Sluis and Rachel Steffl were kept busy in the back row, but few passes found Butson in a manner conducive to setting up Wolthuizen and Drooger at the net.
Never trailing in the game, R-T-R kept pounding away. Possail found paydirt with a couple of shots from the left side, and her tip over the block of Wolthuizen and Sluis put the Knights up 22-14. An ace serve by Welvaert and a miss by Edgerton’s Ashley Bostic garnered the Knights a game point. Bostic was again wide with a kill attempt, and R-T-R forced a fourth game.
“With the exception of the third game, we never let them get on a run,” Coach Butson said. “They (R-T-R) helped that, too. They would get into little funks, where they were making some errors. We’ve done that, too, and these two teams are not that dissimilar. We probably hit the ball maybe a little bit better, but they probably play a little better scrambling defense.
“So, when we came up here, I was expecting this to be a real battle, but we played pretty well, and I was pleased.”
The Knights’ scrambling defense wasn’t enough to carry the day, as the Flying Dutchmen took control of Game 4 after the first seven points. While Wolthuizen continued to find success at the net, the Knights added to their demise by making several errors at the net and in receiving serve. Drooger’s kill down the left line put the Flying Dutchmen on top by eight at 14-6, and the Knights never recovered. Wolthuizen closed out the match with a rocket down the middle of the floor, giving Edgerton a 3-1 victory.
“Kelsey was in a groove here on Saturday; she’s been hitting the ball really well” Coach Butson said. “I switched our lineup around a little bit with Kelsey starting on the front row. I used to have Alyson up there to begin matches, but Kelsey has played so strong up there, I wanted her across the front row first, and that’s been a good move for us. Kayla, a really good server, starts the games serving, so it’s been a double thing for us that’s worked out very well.”
Welvaert finished the match 13-of-13 at the service line while Thooft was 10-of-12 for the Knights, who visit Dawson-Boyd for a Camden Conference match on Thursday.
Edgerton will travel to Mountain Lake Tuesday evening to square off against the Wolverines in a Red Rock Conference tilt.