Vicenza's Brianna Baker attempts to spike the ball Saturday against Aviano's Viyanni Johnson, center, and Alana Masters during a match at Aviano Air Base, Italy. The Saints won two matches back-to-back, 3-1. (Jason Duhr/Stars and Stripes)
Vicenza's Brianna Baker attempts to spike the ball Saturday against Aviano's Viyanni Johnson, center, and Alana Masters during a match at Aviano Air Base, Italy. The Saints won two matches back-to-back, 3-1. (Jason Duhr/Stars and Stripes)
Vicenza's Gabriela Campos bumps the ball off an Aviano serve Saturday, during a match at Aviano Air Base, Italy.The Saints won two matches back-to-back, 3-1. (Jason Duhr/Stars and Stripes)
Vicenza's Soliyah Stevens-Ogaz sneaks a spike past Aviano defenders Saturday during a series of matches at Aviano Air Base, Italy. The Saints won two matches back-to-back, 3-1. (Jason Duhr/Stars and Stripes)
Aviano's Jasmine Cole bumps the ball following a serve from a Vicenza player Saturday during a set of matches at Aviano Air Base, Italy. The Saints won two matches back-to-back, 3-1. (Jason Duhr/Stars and Stripes)
Aviano players celebrate Saturday after beating Vicenza in the first of two matches at Aviano Air Base, Italy. The Saints won two matches back-to-back, 3-1. (Jason Duhr/Stars and Stripes)
Vicenza's Brianna Baker connects with the ball after a serve from an Aviano player Saturday, during a match at Aviano Air Base, Italy. The Saints won two matches back-to-back, 3-1. (Jason Duhr/Stars and Stripes)
AVIANO AIR BASE, Italy – Longtime Aviano girls volleyball coach Hans Hillestad has a different spin on the game than many casual fans.
“Spiking is just for show,” Hillestad said. ”But the defense is what wins the match.”
The Saints demonstrated that repeatedly Saturday against Vicenza and sent the Cougars home with 25-17, 20-25, 26-24, 25-20 and 25-23, 21-25, 25-14, 25-23 defeats.
While the scores were close and the teams seemed evenly matched, the difference was in the defense.
“Our offense will get better as the season goes on,” Hillestad said, “but we’ve been focusing on defense.”
Setter Viyanni Johnson, who accounted for 30 assists and libero Sydney Green, with 22 digs, led the effort. But it took the entire team to stop the Cougar attack at the net and keep the ball off the floor.
“First game of the season and they started to understand what it means to be a team,” Hillestad said.
The Saints had 22 blocks - eight from Cassandra Awalt with the rest spread among other players - while the Cougars only accounted for half as many.
Vicenza’s standout player, Soliyah Stevens-Ogaz, had 23 kills and 12 digs and was able to sneak a number of spikes past the Saint’s defense. Her show of force helped take two games from Aviano.
“We have some really strong players, but they just have to gel together,” Vicenza coach John Kohut said, “Soliyah, Brianna (Baker) and Emma (Knapp) are the top three players I can go to.”
Baker and Knapp combined for a total of seven aces, 17 kills, 13 assists, five blocks and two digs.
Kohut continually emphasized the importance of ball placement and player positioning throughout the day. And noted when one of his players was out of position, it cost them.
“Aviano is always going to keep the ball coming back over the net and we have to be ready and in the right position,” Kohut said. “The two biggest things we need to work on is control of the ball and placement.”
Hillestad said he expect to see steady improvement from both teams as the season progresses. “It’s a really long season and we’re going to play Vicenza a number of times,” he said.
Kohut said the losses gave his team something to think about.
“This will wake them up for the next time,” Kohut said.
