Norco beats Roosevelt, moves into tie for 1st

Norco girls volleyball coach Jake Celestin offered some advice to his players after the Cougars dropped the opening set Monday evening.

“We came out there and were trying to out-hit Roosevelt that first game,” Celestin said. “We will never beat them if we try to be more athletic than them. Trust me, I know that from personal experience, being the ‘tiny guy’ when I was playing. To hang with people more athletic, you win through discipline.”

Norco had 15 fewer kills than their opponent Monday, but the Cougars used other means to generate points. Tougher serving was one of those ways, but the biggest difference was at the net. Senior middle blocker Devyn Mccall had one solo block and combined with Madison Trondle, Savannah Smith and Demi Wagdy for six more stuffs as Norco recovered from a slow start and avenged a previous loss by knocking off Roosevelt 1625, 25-21, 25-20, 25-21.

Roosevelt and Norco now are tied for first place in the Big VIII League standings with one match remaining. Roosevelt (24-6 overall, 7-2 in league), which shared the league title last season with Santiago and King, heads to last-place Corona today for its regular-season finale. And that same night, Norco (197, 7-2) hosts Santiago, which swept the Cougars in the first meeting between the teams.

The opening frame featured some early lead changes, and the score was tied at 14 midway through the game. Roosevelt, which swept Norco in the first round of league play, pieced together an 11-2 run to close out the set. Freshmen Ryah Brock and Jordan Rall had four kills apiece in the opener.

Norco grabbed a 7-3 lead in the second game, with three points coming on blocks. Mccall and Makayla Hart each had a solo block, and Mccall and Trondle combined for the other. Roosevelt rallied and leveled the score at 11, but Norco answered with a 7-1 run to regain control. Wagdy had a slow start offensively Monday, but she had back-to-back kills for the final two points of the set.

“Once the block got going, all of the other pieces started to fall into place,” Celestin said. “But again, it goes back to us playing disciplined volleyball.”

Wagdy and Brock each recorded six kills in the third game for their respective sides, and the score was knotted at 17. Mccall and Smith combined for a pair of blocks to give the Cougars a lead they would not relinquish. Mccall had kills for

Norco’s final three points of the frame.

“This was a big energy game, and blocks provide lots of energy,” Mccall said. “We came together and played as a team. We knew what was at stake.”

Norco grabbed a 6-0 lead in the fourth set, with four points coming on Roosevelt attacking errors. The Mustangs made a push and trimmed the deficit to a single point, but Norco setter Kate Meyers served two aces to help give the Cougars a 16-10 lead. Mccall had three more kills in final set and finished the night with nine kills. Wagdy had only one kill in the final set, but it was the match-winner.