College Volleyball: Warriors top Rochester

ROCHESTER -- The Ridgewater volleyball team came away with its fifth victory of the season against Rochester on Friday night, but the Warriors had to work for the win.

The Warriors won 25-17, 22-25, 25-22, 25-17 to improve to 5-1 overall and 2-0 in the Minnesota College Athletic Conference's South Division.

Ridgewater cruised in the first set but Warriors head coach Joe Sussenguth said Rochester tightened up its defense and the points from then on were hard-fought.

"We felt pretty good about our first set," Sussenguth said. "We controlled tempo and we controlled play. But Rochester ramped up its defense and became more productive offensively, and we were the ones making the mistakes."

Rochester won Game 2 behind solid defense.

"They made digs we might not see again for quite awhile," Sussenguth said of Rochester. "It frustrated our hitters and we couldn't find a way to score. We fought back to win the third set but if they had gotten that one, who knows how it would have turned out."

The Warriors had weaknesses exposed but it also provided them, early in the season, with a baseline from which to improve, Sussenguth said.

"We had to earn every point tonight; it wasn't anything easy, by any means," he said. "But it showed us where we need to get better."

The Warriors play at Riverland Community College in Austin at 4 p.m. today.

Ridgewater 3,

Rochester 0

Ridgewater 25 22 25 25

Rochester 17 25 22 17

(Key: good-attempts-aces)

Ridgewater

Serving: Kandace Taylor 1-1-0, Taylor Sharpe 11-13-0, Morgan Meyer 2-3-0, Tiffani Karbo 21-22-2, Cassie Ziemer 8-8-1, Alicia Koenen 8-9-0, Alex Horton 19-22-1, Kelci Viesselman 13-14-1 ... Setting: Karbo 31 set assists, Brittany Nissen 3, Horton 2, Koenen 1, Sharpe 1 ... Hitting: Taylor 3-3-1, Sharpe 3-3-1, Meyer 3-4-1, Karbo 8-8-2, Kelsey Stommes 41-47-13, Ziemer 18-22-3, Katie Knisley 4-4-1, Nissen 10-12-2, Koenen 4-4-2, Horton 31-33-11, Viesselman 17-23-4 ... Blocking (aces): Stommes 2, Karbo 1 ... Digs: Sharpe 18, Meyer 4, Karbo 16, Koenen 8, Horton 12, Viesselman 9

Rochester

Statistics not available