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Ryan volleyball sweeps Surrey, former coach

Alex Eisen/MDN Bishop Ryan senior Sealy Rovig (4) sets the ball in a Class B girls volleyball match against Surrey on Thursday evening at Bishop Ryan. Rovig surpassed 1,000-career assists in Ryan's win over Glenburn on Tuesday.

Kaycee Grochow’s return to the Bishop Ryan gymnasium was short and rather sour.

The ex-Ryan volleyball coach, now the head coach at Surrey, was swept by her former team Thursday evening by set scores of 25-7, 25-20 and 25-16.

The Lions (12-10-1, 4-2 District 12) used a balanced attack with four players — Sidney Lovelace, Sealy Rovig, Sylvie Kramer and Sydney Upton — recording six or more kills to overpower the Mustangs (1-11, 0-6 District 12).

“I feel like we grow every week,” first-year Ryan head coach Nick Theis said. “Every week they do something different that I didn’t know we could do… This week, definitely our hitting made a difference. There are times when a set isn’t perfect and we tend to make the error. Today, I felt like we got ourselves behind the ball, did what we worked on and put it in play.”

Kramer opened the match with a powerful kill and Ryan didn’t look back. The Lions scored nine out of the first 10 points en route to a convincing 25-7 first set win.

Ryan senior Tatum Leidholt dropped in an ace to close out the first set. She finished with a match-high four aces.

“The first set was awesome,” Theis said. “We jumped out really strong and we were in control from the very first play. Just to see a clean pass-set-hit was an awesome way to start and I felt like the momentum just built from there.”

Surrey found its footing in the second set. A kill by sophomore middle hitter Katie Aberle forced Ryan into an early timeout with the Mustangs up 6-3.

“They fought well together and kept fighting,” Grochow said. “We had some really good moments, then we also had some moments that we still have to work on.”

The Lions got themselves back even at 9-9. Surrey, behind the serving of Aberle and senior Hunter Fuchs protecting the middle of the court, regained the lead at 15-12.

Aberle and Fuchs combined for nine kills and five blocks in the match to lead the Mustangs. Surrey also got eight assists from Hannah Severson, eight digs from Sydney Stanbaugh and three aces from Olivia Wattendorf.

Ryan tied the second set up again at 15-15 and 19-19 before pulling away to take a 2-0 set lead. A lengthy set point ended with Lovelace putting down a kill, 25-20.

Lovelace and Rovig each had a team-high eight kills.

Rovig, a rotating setter who got some recognition during the second-set intermission for recording her 1,000-career assist in Ryan’s win over Glenburn on Tuesday, tossed up 13 assists on Thursday. Junior Grace Candrian had two more assists to lead Ryan with 15.

“The second set was a little bit of a slower game,” Theis said. “I think sometimes that gets to our girls. They get excited for the ball, so to see them pull through was really nice.”

The Lions had Surrey doubled up for a majority of the third set. Trailing 16-8, Surrey mounted a final comeback attempt. But, trading points with Ryan wasn’t enough, as the Lions closed out the final frame 25-16.

“We made a few errors that we want to clean up, but to see them respond well after an error is something we have been talking about,” Theis said. “Stuff like serving it into the net, hitting it into the net, not being in your spot in transition or missing a pass. Sometimes when we do those things once, we do them two or three times. We are really trying to focus on, ‘OK, we did it once, now we move on to the next play and get the ball back.'”

Ryan is playing in the Carrington tournament on Saturday, while Surrey will host District 12 leaders Our Redeemer’s on Tuesday.

Alex Eisen covers Minot State athletics, the Minot Minotauros and high school sports. Follow him on Twitter @AEisen13.

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