Rota coach Melinda Luna and players celebrate a point in the Division II final at the DODDS-Europe volleyball championships in Ramstein, Germany, Saturday, Nov. 2, 2014. Rota beat Aviano 25-19, 25-18, 25-18. (Michael Abrams/Stars and Stripes)
Rota coach Melinda Luna and players celebrate a point in the Division II final at the DODDS-Europe volleyball championships in Ramstein, Germany, Saturday, Nov. 2, 2014. Rota beat Aviano 25-19, 25-18, 25-18. (Michael Abrams/Stars and Stripes)
Rota's Tayla Irby digs out an Aviano serve as teammates Janae Curtice, left, and Jalaha Burton watch. Rota defeated Aviano 25-19, 25-18, 25-18 in the Division II final at the DODDS-Europe volleyball championships in Ramstein, Germany, Saturday, Nov. 2, 2014. (Michael Abrams/Stars and Stripes)
Aviano's Alana Masters hit the ball over the net against the defense of Rota's Triana Hampton in the Division II final at the DODDS-Europe volleyball championships in Ramstein, Germany, Saturday, Nov. 2, 2014. Rota won the match 25-19, 25-18, 25-18. (Michael Abrams/Stars and Stripes)
Aviano's Haylea Patterson digs a Rota serve as teammate Rebecca Ives watches in the Division II final at the DODDS-Europe volleyball championships in Ramstein, Germany, Saturday, Nov. 2, 2014. Rota won the match 25-19, 25-18, 25-18. (Michael Abrams/Stars and Stripes)
Rota's Janae Curtice goes to her knees as she tries to save a ball in the Division II final at the DODDS-Europe volleyball championships in Ramstein, Germany, Saturday, Nov. 2, 2014. Rota won the match 25-19, 25-19, 25-18. Teammates Tayla Irby and Tiffani Driscoll watch the action along with Aviano's Jasmine Cole, left, and Sydney Green. (Michael Abrams/Stars and Stripes)
Rota's Tiffani Driscoll knocks the ball past the Aviano block in the Division II final at the DODDS-Europe volleyball championships in Ramstein, Germany, Saturday, Nov. 2, 2014. Rota won the match 25-19, 25-18, 25-18. (Michael Abrams/Stars and Stripes)
The Rota Admirals players celebrate their Division II championship after beating Aviano 25-19, 25-18, 25-18 at the DODDS-Europe volleyball championships in Ramstein, Germany, Saturday, Nov. 2, 2014. (Michael Abrams/Stars and Stripes)
RAMSTEIN AIR BASE, Germany – After marching into Saturday’s finals with a hard-fought, four-set win over Hohenfels on Friday, Aviano fell flat in its title bid against an energized Rota team, 19-25, 18-25, 18-25.
The Saints strung together their finest season in recent memory, earning a spot in the DODDS-Europe Division II championship match for the first time since 2007.
Expectations were high: Aviano had only days ago disposed of Rota in two sets in tourney play and all bets seemed to be on the Saints, considering Rota lost to graduation its stalwart star, Aspen Luna.
But Rota proved a solid, well-balanced team can be just as dangerous, keeping Aviano off their game with scrappy play from senior Tiffani Driscoll and junior Janae Curtice.
The title comes only two years after Rota moved up to the Division II bracket; last year, their first in the bigger-schools division, the Admirals were third in the tournament.
“This year, our group was a lot more dynamic,” Driscoll said. “Every girl on the court had a skill and a strength that we could use … we just meshed together so well.”
Coming into the season, the team wondered how it would fare without Luna, Driscoll said. But any doubts were quickly erased. “We had some girls that came in and filled the shoes 100 percent.”
Curtis, new to the team this year, was among them.
“It’s amazing,” Curtis said. “I’ve never worked with a team who’s just so close and really plays so well together.”
Aviano jumped out to a quick start in the first set, building an early 10-3 advantage, capped by a serving ace from Saints’ senior Jasmine Cole.
But Rota whittled away at Aviano’s lead, tying it up 10-10. The teams swapped leads several times before the score was knotted again at 17 all. Rota then pulled away to take the first set, 25-18.
The last set was taut. Aviano hung in early on, playing to a 12-12 tie. But then Rota went on the attack and pulled ahead for good. Aviano junior Viyanni Johnson gave the Saints a glimmer of hope with a kill, closing the gap to 23-18. But Driscoll answered with two back-to-back kills, cementing the victory and an unlikely team title.
A teary-eyed Rota coach Melinda Luna said afterwards that this win was particularly emotional, because of how far the team has come in just a year.
“To come this far, after being only our second year in Division II,” she said. “This group (shows) a lot of teamwork, a lot of support. We stay humble, we work hard.”
Emotions ran high on both sides of the court.
Aviano’s seniors were particularly disappointed, after coming so close to winning it all.
The seniors “were a little tense knowing it was their last game and they wanted to do so well, that they put too much pressure on themselves,” Aviano coach Hans Hillestad said.
But the success of the season doesn’t depend on one game, he added. The Saints beat tough in-country rivals Naples, Vicenza and Florence this year. “We had a really good season, just a tough day.”
Cole said Rota seemed to change up their strategy since the two teams played earlier in the week, trying to hit more corners, among other tweaks.
But she and her teammates feel they threw all they had at the Admirals. It just wasn’t enough.
“I think we did what we could,” senior Alana Masters said. “We went out and gave it our all. I’m just glad we got his far.”
