Spurred by 10 kills from Ava Ondong and several freshmen making an impact in their debuts, the Tigers came away with a season-opening 25-23, 25-23, 17-25, 12-25, 15-10 triumph over the Warriors on the road on Tuesday night.
After taking care of business early and seemingly on the way to a sweep, Napavine (1-0) was pushed to the brink and let most of the momentum dissolve in the fourth set. It rebounded emphatically to put away Rochester (0-1) in the decisive fifth set.
“This group is fun to work with,” Tigers head coach Moncia Dailey said. “They want to learn and get better. All of them have great attitudes.”
With some girls inactive for the match, Dailey started all four of her freshmen. Scarlett Dunivin registered nine kills and Ellie Cserni had a pair of aces and four block kills. Jaella Johnson teamed with senior libero Lilly Grabianowski for 20 digs.
Napavine will take on Toledo in a non-league game on Tuesday while Rochester turns around quickly and battles W.F. West on Thursday.
