Richards Volleyball: Bulldogs Work Out Kinks in Season-Opening Win

In Richards’ girls volleyball season-opener, it took only a single timeout for the Bulldogs to settle down and take control.

After letting Thornwood claw back to even the score at 8-8 in the first game, Richards’ offense picked up and limited the mistakes in a 25-13, 25-11 victory on the road against Thornwood Wednesday night.

“The first game of the season is always going to be like that, but we picked up in the second game a lot,” said Kara Rockey, Richards’ junior libero.

Richards’ offense got back on track coming out of the timeout with a kill by senior outside hitter Sam Kusta. That sparked a 17-5 run, giving Richards the opening game of the match. Megan Albon’s serve was key in Game 1 as the sophomore helped win six straight points on her serve, including two aces.

Albon is part of a young Richards team that features only five seniors on the roster. Still, Richards coach Troy Grevengoed expects a lot out of Albon and fellow sophomore outside hitter Shannon Gardner.

“Our two outsides did a nice job, both sophomores right now, and stepped up on the varsity level doing well,” Grevengoed said.

Richards had a much better start to Game 2, getting out to a 7-0 lead before Thornwood got on the scoreboard. Junior setter Allison Stazak had back-to-back aces during the initial run.

From there, Richards maintained its lead and let its offense get into rhythm. Albon had three kills in the second game to help put Thornwood away in a two-game sweep.

“Passing got better, serving got aggressive, that’s what we want,” Grevengoed said. “Serve is going to be one of our assets this year, we want to use it as much as we can.”

Gardner contributed three kills and Stazak had six assists to lead the Bulldogs. Richards will participate in the Bremen Invitational on Saturday, getting more match experience under its belt early in the season.

“It’s exciting since it’s the first game back, good to get a win,” Rockey said. 

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