Serves them right

Rocks find their serving rhythm in four-game victory over Plymouth

  Aces were wild -- and plentiful -- for Salem's volleyball team Tuesday night against Plymouth.

  The Rocks delivered 17 non-returnable serves to the Wildcats, who have earned a reputation as one of the best serve-receive teams around.

  The aces were significant, but they weren't the only story in Salem's four-game victory: 25-11, 25-10, 17-25, 25-19. The Rocks had their entire package in sync as they hit with gusto, dug with a vengeance and blocked brilliantly.

  The victory improved Salem's record to 10-1-2. Plymouth slipped to 8-2.

  "Everybody that played had at least one ace," said Salem coach Amanda Suder. "We had 17 altogether which is unheard of, especially against a team like Plymouth."

  Salem senior captain Lauren Dworzanin knew it was going to take a special effort to knock off the Wildcats, considering the heightened emotions that arise whenever two of the Park's teams lock up.

  "We were all energized because we knew it was going to be a tough game," said Dworzanin. "We really wanted to bring it hard the first two games and we started out with a lot of good kills, good serves, good serve-receive -- everything was going right. The whole team did a great job."

  To Plymouth's credit, it didn't' fold up the tents after losing the first two games by wide margins. Sparked by the front-row play of Alex Roberts and Kelly Smoltz, Plymouth stayed alive by seizing game three, 25-17.

  "We knew they'd come hard at us in the third game," said Dworzanin. "After we lost that game, we brought it together and said we have to bring it if we're going to take it in four. We had to cover their tips better because that was the strong point for them in game three, and we had to go back to playing like we did the first two games."

  The first half of game four was tight. In fact, a Kelly Smoltz block knotted the score at 12-all at one point. However, Salem's standout all-arounder Nicole Merget helped the Rocks regain the momentum by registering kills in three of the next four points to catapult her team into a 16-12 advantage it would never relinquish.

  "Nicole played a good, all-around game tonight," said Suder. "She had 20 kills on only four errors. When she's in the back row, she can get hits just like she's an outside hitter."

  Plymouth coach Kelly McCausland was disappointed in her team's performance following an outstanding second-place effort at Saturday's University of Michigan-Dearborn tournament.

  "The first two games we couldn't pass, we couldn't hit, we couldn't do anything," she said. "When you play a team as good as Salem, you can't get away with starting out slowly like we did.

  "Our only consistent performer tonight was Alex Roberts. She had six kills and some crucial blocks in game three."

  Joining Merget as a front-row force was Jillian Somerville, who racked up nine kills and three blocks. Salem setter Kerry MacDonald not only accounted for 34 assists, four blocks, 12 digs and two aces, she also sang the National Anthem with teammate Elise Engerer.

  Salem's libero, Lauren Aschermann also shined, recording five aces and 25 digs.

Kayla Bridge paced the Wildcats with eight kills. Katie Salo chalked up a team-high 20 assists.

  "We had 26 reception errors," McCausland lamented. "That's an entire game right there."

Ed Wright can be reached at info@plymouthcantonsports.com or (734) 453-1980.