ROGERS — Rogers Heritage had chances to win tight matches earlier this season, but could never seem to find a way to break through. But the Lady War Eagles did it Thursday night in one their biggest matches of the season.
Heritage erased a 9-0 deficit in the third set to claim a 25-21 victory, then never trailed in the fourth set to claim a 3-1 win over cross-town rival Rogers High in 7A/6A-West Conference volleyball in War Eagle Arena.
Lady War Eagles coach Sarah Miser acknowledged the victory was important on many fronts.
“Oh it was a big win,” Miser said. “It’s a big confidence booster, losing to them twice already. For conference it puts us tied with them now and back in the running for the state tournament. “
Miser said she tried to remind her team to remain steady throughout the match, which had been a problem especially against Rogers.
“The last two times we’ve played them, we get excited and then we tense up,” Miser said. “I knew it would come down to which team made fewer errors.”
Rogers (12-13, 2-5 7A/6A-West) look as though it had the momentum midway through the match, winning the second set 25-16 and off to a 9-0 lead in the third. But Lady Mounties coach Jeana Breedlove said her team let down and Heritage came back strong.
“I think when we got that 9-0 lead we relaxed too much,” Breedlove said. “It doesn’t matter if you’re up 20-0, you’ve got to finish. I felt like my girls played good, but Heritage did a good job capitalizing on our weaknesses.”
Heritage (12-12, 2-4) got offense from unusual sources Thursday as 5-10 sophomore middle hitter Connor McNulty and right side hitter Nikki Van Wilpe led the way with 11 kills apiece. It was a season high for McNulty.
Senior libero Kendra Linn also led the way with 34 digs, but Van Wilpe chipped in with 21 digs for a double-double. Setter Kaylin Anderson also contributed 17 digs as Rogers concentrated its attack on the right side to try to keep Heritage out of its offense.
Senior outside hitter Emily Osborn finished with a match-high 17 kills for Rogers, but 11 of those came in the first two sets. Heritage’s aggressive serving forced Rogers to scramble and didn’t allow Osborn quality swings later in the match.
“We were running around a little too much,” Breedlove said. “We turned around in our tracks a little bit.”