Dallasā?? start fueled by court chemistry

DALLAS — The routine was the same for Christina Diltz.

Three strong bounces off the floor. Line up the serve. Three steps forward and fire.

Why change what works? And for Diltz, it was dropping hard serves on Coughlin's side of the court.

Dallas was on fire behind the service line, racking up a total of 26 aces – led by six each from Diltz and Tanner Englehart – as the Mountaineers blanked the Crusaders 3-0 in a Wyoming Valley Conference girls volleyball match.

The game scores were 25-11, 25-2, 25-7.

At one point in the second set, Dallas scored 18 consecutive times while Diltz was behind the line.

It was a result that surprised even her.

"I don't know where it came from," the senior outside hitter said. "Usually I'm pretty consistent, but today they were just falling and my coach gave me some great spots. I just hit those."

Dallas isn't going to surprise anyone in the conference this year. Thus far, the Mounts are a perfect 4-0 while dominating their WVC competition.

Credit that to senior leadership. The entire varsity roster is comprised of three- and four-year players that have grown up together on the court, learning through the ups and downs of their days as underclassmen.

"It has helped us a lot," Englehart said. "We've been through three or four years together, so we kind of understand the type of shots we can all hit. We are a big family, and we are friends on and off the court, and I think that helps too. We know each other. We know each other's weaknesses, and that's where we step up as a team and kind of provide that balance."

Yesterday was the perfect example.

Dallas was impressive behind the service line. And it wasn't just from two players, as a total of seven girls recorded aces.

The passes from Lauren Jones were crisp. The kills by Englehart and classmates Marlee Nelson, Diltz and Sarah Payne were strong, mixing their spots on the court.

"These girls motivated themselves. They put the work in, and they put the time in," Dallas head coach Meredith Ohl said. "It's very good. It showed on the court tonight.

"I thought that we really played as a team, which is something we didn't necessarily do the last few games, but we got by on our skill. Today, you saw that it was a team effort."

Coughlin's Liz Ellsworth started off with aces in each of the first and third games, only to see Dallas respond with large runs.

Consecutive aces from Jones sparked a 13-5 Mountaineer run in the first game, and it was a 10-0 spurt at the half-way point of the third stanza that gave Dallas a 16-4 lead.

"Christina was really big, and all the servers behind the line really focused and got the job done there," Ohl said.

Summer Kubicki led Coughlin with five assists, one ace and one kill, while Nykia Taylor added six digs.

Payne and Englehart each had six kills, while Jones had 14 assists.

"Over the years, we've bonded so much," Diltz said. "You can tell that we really care about one another, and that's so important. We work together so well.

"We expect a lot of this year and we are working really hard. It's time for Dallas girls volleyball to have a good reputation again."

COU
: Liz Ellsworth, 2 aces, 3 service points, 3 digs; Nykia Taylor, 6 digs, 1 assist, 1 service point; Summer Kubicki, 5 assists, 1 ace, 1 service point, 1 kill.

DAL: Marlee Nelson, 2 kills, 1 assist, 6 service points, 5 aces; Tanner Englehart, 6 kills, 13 service points, 6 aces; Sarah Payne, 6 kills, 1 dig, 2 aces; Lauren Jones, 14 assists, 7 service points, Christina Diltz, 6 aces.