The Rock wins NCSAA national volleyball title

This past Saturday The Rock volleyball team swept Grace Academy (Hagerstown, MD) to win the National Christian School Athletic Association (NCSAA) Division I national championship 25-18, 25-20 in the best-of-three final at Cedarville, Ohio.

The Lions also had sweeps of First Baptist Christian (Elyria, OH) and Calumet Christian (Griffith, IN) to finish the season at 26-2.

"The key to winning not only the national championship but every game was winning the warmup," said The Rock coach Ruben Perez. "Our girls came out strong and confident and played as a team. This team has always been good enough, but it took this year for my seniors to play like they did all season long."

For the season, senior Natasha Kidd served 90% and led the team with 65 aces, while junior libero Skyler Perez, the coach's daughter, led the team in serve-receive passing at a 2.09 rating. Perez also led the team in digs with 261.

Senior Annabell Zachritz led the team in blocks at 76, while senior Mary Massias led the team in kills with 266 with Kidd a close second at 238.

Senior Abby Vaillancourt led the setters in assists with 368, while eighth-grader Taylor Sembower added 284 for the season.

All pins (right front- and left-front players) and middles hit above 250 "which is an impressive percentage," Ruben Perez said.

"This team showed a lot of poise and confidence because even when we lost a set, or we were down, they never seemed out of control," he said. "The two losses we experienced this year, the other teams played well, and we just didn't execute. But I never felt that our girls let that affect their confidence for too long. Our girls have embraced the 'grit culture' and what family means."