By Jeremy McDonald

jeremymcdonald73@gmail.com

SALEM, Ore.–  It was one of those starts to a volleyball game that you would’ve seen coming, a 25-0 score.

Blanchet did just that to open their Tri-River Conference game with Kennedy in their  25-0, 18-25, 25-27, 25-19, 15-11 win. Having to withstand the Trojans rally to edge Kennedy on their home court.

“The first set felt good, but then after that I knew that it wasn’t going to happen again.  You got to come back, they’re going to want it, they’re down and they want to make a comeback,” Irene Rocha said.

Rocha led that first set charge, serving all 25 points before the Trojans settled back in to take the next two sets.  Taking the third set even in overtime before the Cavs answered with a fourth set victory.

“It was probably the difference maker in the entire game.  We kind of proved to ourselves that we can come back after a tough, tough loss like that and I think that really set the tone,” Kennedy’s Jenna Hopkins said.  “That last set when we came back after being down five, and though we didn’t win there at the end, I’m really proud of how we bounced back.”

The Trojans rallied to tie the fifth set at 11 after being down 11-6, but Blanchet answered with a four-point push to complete the hard-fought win going into Tuesday’s game versus Colton.

“It was huge.  This test for us proves that we have the mentality to come back.  We weren’t at our best tonight but we proved that we were able to get to our best when we work together, so moving forward, this really shows that we can work as a team,” the Cavs Ellie Fromwiller said.

Kennedy heads to play Santiam on Tuesday in Mill City.

Photos By Jeremy McDonald