Rollins dominates, RHS sweeps Neville in prep volleyball action

Ruston volleyball (23-7) swept its non-district rival Neville (25-16, 2515, 25-8) in front of a packed crowd at the Ruston Sports Complex Thursday.

The match started slow for the Bearcats with uncharacteristic service errors and passing mistakes, but the team rallied when it needed to and got big time performances throughout its top-line starters to key role players off the bench.

Senior middle Hannah Rollins led the team with 15 kills and 3 blocks – a season high for a single match. Harper Cauley put up 6 kills and 10 digs, while Jade Smith ended at 5 kills and 3 blocks. Allie Richardson and Mariah White tallied 3 aces each, while Kyndal Fobbs and Ellie Koonce put down a pair of aces.

“We didn’t come in super worried and when you can get by with it, then you can play like that,” Ruston head coach Amanda Cauley said. “That’s why we’re going down south back-to-back weekends. It’s like, no, this can’t be the comfort zone. We’re better than that and we’re going to get better.”

Set one started and stayed tight, with the score tied at 4- 4 and 8-8 as the Bearcats had trouble handling the short serves of the Tigers while facing some communication issues on offense. But after a kill from Jade Smith made it 13-12 Ruston, the home squad never relinquished the lead, ending the frame on a 12-4 run with strong aces from Richardson and big swings from Rollins.

Ruston began set two trailing again, this time with Neville jumping in front 4-1. But three-straight kills from Rollins brought the Bearcats back in the game and eventually tying the frame up at 7-7.

Fobbs stepped up to the service line for the Bearcats and steadied the waters, setting up Ruston to receive out-of-system hits from the Tigers while adding an ace to give her team a 12-9 lead. Neville hung around a bit longer, but the Bearcats eventually took the second set thanks to a 13-3 run.

The third set was the Bearcats’ best after breaking a 4-4 tie to explode for a 21-4 run the rest of the frame. Ruston had big kills from Rollins and Harper in the dominant win.

Cauley said Rollins’ consistency at the net propelled the Bearcats to victory.

“She was definitely our most dominant attacker, and I even told her in the first set, ‘Quit tipping. Go for it. We trust you. Give us the big swings,’” Cauley said of Rollins. “ She was connecting the best with Baylor and so I’m glad we were able to score off that. Harper did well from the outside as well but Hannah is just steady and she was trying to be a positive leader tonight.”

Along with the big night from Rollins, Cauley gave credit to Fobbs, White, and Koonce for providing a spark off the bench at the service line to set the Bearcats up for easy offense.

“We were able to utilize everyone off the bench tonight and I definitely thought they came in and served well and Ellie did too,” Cauley said. “She doesn’t get a lot of varsity time, but she came in and served us out.”

Ruston continued its competitive stretch this weekend at the Isidore Newman Tournament Friday and Saturday and will return for its home finale and senior night on Thursday against West Ouachita at the Ruston Sports Complex.