Miller leads Pride past rival Reavis

Updated: August 24, 2011 9:31PM

It was the sixth year running for the Battle of Burbank between Queen of Peace and Reavis on Wednesday night. There were some firsts and new things unveiled in the match, but the results remained the same.

Queen of Peace came away with the match in a 25-15, 25-19 sweep of the Rams. It was the sixth straight match win for the Pride in the series.

Peace coach Anne Malone came away impressed with Reavis.

“(Reavis coach Michelle McDonough) has a talented team,” Malone said. “They will do well before this season is over. They did a good job of slowing us down. We couldn’t run our fast offense.’’

For Peace (2-0) both games came down to long service runs that spelled the difference. In the first game, Katie Hannon provided five straight service points that changed a one-point game into a 18-12 lead that buried the Rams (0-1).

Reavis hurt its own cause with three unforced errors during that stretch while Peace’s Katie Rotkovich provided one of her six kills for the match.

“We had some nerves and tentativeness at certain points during both games,’’ McDonough said. “We had unforced errors in there and we weren’t as smooth and aggressive as we were at other points.’’

Game 2 had a seesaw of runs between the two teams. Reavis’ Allison Balandis served her team back from a 15-10 deficit to tie the game at 15. Balandis, who was the libero, served three aces during that stretch.

The game was tied at 16 when Rotkovich had a block-kill to give her team the lead for good. She took the momentum of that point into her service and reeled off five straight points, including two aces, for a 22-16 lead. Allyson Murray chipped in with two of her six kills.

“Katie’s serves were huge for us,’’ Murray said. “She has a very fast arm swing and can be erratic. We have been getting her to slow things down.’’

For Reavis, it was the first game of the season on a new gym floor and the first game as head coach for McDonough. She helped coach the Oak Forest sophomore boys last season and played volleyball at Andrew and then Binghamton University in New York.

“It was very exciting and I loved it,’’ McDonough said. “It was different seeing things as a head coach than it is playing the game.’’

Kathleen Miller led Peace with 15 assists. Haley Dever had six kills for Reavis.

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