Raiders rebound with win over Madrid

MAXWELL — Following a disappointing performance last time on the court, Collins-Maxwell/Baxter anxiously awaited a home match with Madrid Monday night.

The Raiders believed they were better than what they showed while losing all three of their matches in the Perry tournament Thursday, and they proved so against the Tigers.

“Big difference,” CMB head coach Scott Ranck said of his team Monday.

CMB topped Madrid in straight sets, 25-20, 25-17, 25-19, with improved play at several areas on the floor.

“We just didn’t play well Thursday, and we wanted to come out tonight and make a statement that Thursday was just a fluke and that we were a whole lot better than we played,” Ranck said. “Had good serving and good passes. We mixed up our hitting some tonight. The kids just had a really good time playing tonight.”

The Raiders built a 9-4 advantage at the beginning of the first set and then led Madrid throughout most of the game. CMB (2-5) trailed momentarily to begin the third set before rattling off 11 straight points and taking a 17-9 lead.

“We had a lot more energy, we were moving more, we were talking more, we just worked better as a team than we did Thursday,” CMB’s Payge Jurgens said.

Jurgens played an important role throughout as she recorded 12 kills, the most by any Raider in a match this season. She was particularly effective in the second set while CMB scored five unanswered points and nearly doubled their advantage over Madrid (2-4) to 20-11.

Jurgens missed the season-opener against Lynnville-Sully due to an ankle sprain. Ranck said she’s improved since.

“When she’s healthy, she can be a force,” he said.

Ranck and multiple players attributed a large part of their team’s improvement from last week to Monday to better communication. Communicating more was something Ranck emphasized in practice after last week’s disappointing play and doing so benefitted the Raiders against Madrid.

“We started communicating more and moving more and that made us flow together better,” CMB’s Toni Spencer said. “That kept our enthusiasm up and I think that helped us score more.”

Added Jurgens: “Before we were not talking and now every single play, we’re moving, we’re talking, telling each other where the ball is (and) how it’s moving. It helped a ton.”

Mackenzie Schmitz led CMB with 21 assists and was one of four players with at least three aces. Alex Hlavacek and Maddy Poage posted four aces each.

“I think the girls came out excited about playing tonight and they had a decent crowd cheering them on; they didn’t want to disappoint,” Ranck said. “They just played really well.”

Contact Sports Writer Ben Schuff at (641) 792-3121 Ext. 6536 or at bschuff@newtondailynews.com.