ROCHELLE — The Rochelle Lady Hub varsity volleyball team did its best to fight back during Monday’s nonconference match against Genoa-Kingston. Despite a strong second set led by senior Taelynn Rodeghero, who recorded a double-double with 13 kills and 15 digs in the match, the Lady Hubs struggled to find their rhythm without injured senior setter Ali Ohlinger, falling to the Cogs 18-25, 25-17, 16-25 in a rematch from Saturday’s tournament in Byron.

Genoa-Kingston controlled most of the opening set, capitalizing on receive errors and other mistakes by the Lady Hubs, who deployed a new rotation of players with Ohlinger sidelined for a knee injury. Rochelle responded early in the second set, however, opening the set with a 6-1 run that was sparked by a string of kills from Rodeghero, who attacked the Cogs from the outside.

“When we lose a player like Ali, it’s obviously going to hurt us,” head coach Molly Sly said. “But she’s here and she wants to see the team succeed. She’s cheering the girls on during practice and she has a great attitude. She’s leading our huddles and I think the girls are coming in each day ready to work for her. They have the type of mentality where they want to win for her.”

The Lady Hubs extended their second-set lead with the Grand Valley State University commit Rodeghero at the service line, forcing a Genoa-Kingston timeout with Rochelle ahead 16-6. Juniors Meredith Bruns and Jaydin Dickey shared setting duties on Monday evening, with Bruns dishing out 13 assists while Dickey added 11 assists. Defensively, Rochelle committed far fewer errors in the second set, with senior libero Dempsey Atkinson anchoring the back row.

“I think this is great for Taelynn,” Sly said. “It puts a lot on her shoulders, but I think that’s good for her and I think she needs to have a lot of weight on those shoulders and continue rising to the challenge. She did that over the weekend and she played really well tonight. I think this will only make her better for when she goes on to play four more years of volleyball.”

Atkinson collected a team-high 19 digs for the Lady Hubs, who closed out the second set in decisive fashion before entering the third set, where Rochelle received an offensive boost from sophomore Briel Metzger. Normally out of the rotation, Metzger has seen her role increase with Ohlinger sidelined. The sophomore finished with six kills, most of which came in the third set. 

“Briel wants it and I see how she watches and learns from the bench,” Sly said. “She takes everything our coaches and players say to her and she learns from that. She wants to put what she learns into action right away and I think she brings a fire for the three rotations she’s in.”

A pair of blocks from Rodeghero and junior Audyn Kemp helped Rochelle hold a 15-13 lead over the Cogs late in the third set. But as was the issue in the first set, unforced errors hurt the Lady Hubs down the stretch, as a lengthy service rally from Genoa-Kingston led to an 8-0 run that required two Rochelle timeouts to stop the bleeding. The Lady Hubs were unable to recover, however, with the Cogs ending the match on a 12-1 run after trailing by two.