Deep bench, balanced attack lead PCM volleyball past Polar Bears

MONROE — Fourteen players saw action in at least two sets for PCM’s volleyball team on Monday night.

Head coach Sarah De Vries is still evaluating parts of her program in her first season, but the Mustangs also were never challenged during a three-set win over Des Moines North.

A strong start in the first game set the tone for the rest of the night and the Mustangs used an energetic student section to catapult them to a 25-13, 25-11, 25-12 non-conference home victory.

“We had a lot of enthusiasm and a loud gym. It was a lot of fun,” De Vries said.

PCM used a balanced effort to dump the Polar Bears. Six players served up at least two aces, seven put down two or more kills and the Mustangs’ new 6-2 formation appears to be a positive adjustment from the coaching staff.

“We tried some new stuff at the tournament we were at this past weekend. We feel good about our 6-2 rotation. It gets more girls in, too,” De Vries said. “We also have some really talented kids on the bench so we want to get them in and get them some playing time.”

Riley Johannes’ kill early in the opening set gave the Mustangs a lead it wouldn’t relinquish. Back-to-back aces by Eliana Buswell pushed the lead to 7-3 and PCM slowly pulled away from there.

Aces were the theme of the match for the Mustangs. They had 21 of them in all. Johannes’ ace made it 10-4, RaeAnn Duinink pushed it to 12-5 with her ace and Sidney Shaver’s ace extended the lead to 14-7.

Addy Steenhoek served three consecutive aces later to propel the advantage to 19-8 and the margin never got lower than 10 the rest of the way.

The Mustangs (2-5) started slowly in the second set, but three straight aces by Johannes and a kill by Elle Davis gave the home team a 9-5 lead.

A 6-0 run later pushed the margin to 15-6 and two of those six points came off Duinink aces.

Another 5-0 run extended the lead to 20-8, and the Polar Bears (0-2) couldn’t close the gap to single digits the rest of the way.

Buswell had four aces in the match and two of them came in the third set and they gave the Mustangs a 5-3 lead.

North drew even a few points later, but an ace by Addison Hegwood, a block by Davis and a kill by Steenhoek put PCM in front for good.

Leading 10-9, PCM used an 8-0 run to put the set out of reach and it featured a Buswell tip and an ace, another kill by Steenhoek and two kills by Hegwood.

Duinink, the team’s libero, led the Mustangs with eight digs, three kills and three aces. She also was 10-of-10 in serves.

Reese Palm registered a team-best six kills and added two digs and four aces, Steenhoek tallied three kills, three digs and three aces and Buswell finished with eight assists, two digs and four aces.

Shaver registered 10 assists and four aces, Joslin Briles collected three kills and three digs, Hegwood chipped in three kills and two digs, Davis put down three kills and Ella Schendel recorded two digs.

PCM was 62-of-73 in serves with 21 aces.

Johannes, the team’s top hitter last season, finished with two kills and four aces despite not playing at all in the third set.

“It gave the opportunity for other girls to play. She’s a great teammate and she understood what was happening,” De Vries said. “There’s no animosity with the girls at all. They are celebrating other people’s successes.”

De Vries said Johannes hoped to celebrate a kill from a player who was on the varsity court for the first time in her career in the final set.

That player happens to be De Vries’ daughter Rebecca.

“We had a girl go in who was playing varsity for the first time and Riley was screaming from the bench to set her up,” Coach De Vries said. “The team makeup is great. There is no drama, the girls work well together, they support each other and they want the best for each other.”

Coach De Vries wants her team to be more consistent, but she’s happy her two setters are mixing it up and getting the ball to their plethora of options at the net.

“We have to clean up the unforced errors,” Coach De Vries said. “We are real hot at times and real cold at other times.

“The setters are mixing it up and using all of their options on the floor. That’s something I like and something I want them to keep doing. We haven’t done our up-tempo stuff, but I’m excited to incorporate it as we go.”