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TORONTO -- The Toronto volleyball stepped up its level of play as the match went on against Madonna.
The Blue Dons won the first set to take an early lead in the match, however, the Red Knights rallied to win the next three to win the match, 20-25, 25-23, 25-18, 25-16, Tuesday night inside the George K. Kunzler Memorial Gymnasium.
"The confidence level of the girls changed," Toronto (2-5) head coach Lori Lynn Jackson said. "The girls' record this season is 2-5. It is a big swing from last year. These girls are trying to find their footing and their confidence.
"The girls that played last year had all played together since they were in the sixth or seventh grade. This year, we have freshmen through seniors out on the court. They are starting to come together."
Madonna had the momentum early on, however, the girls from Hancock County were unable to sustain it throughout the match.
"We have a young team," first-year Madonna (1-6) head coach Jaedyn Hissam said. "I am working to grow the program. Things aren't going to be perfect. I'm working on a new lineup. We had some injuries, and that hurt us. We had to make some quick changes."
One of those injuries came on the final point of the second set when freshman Sophie Boyd went down with an injury. She stayed down on the court for multiple minutes before being helped to the bench. Unfortunately, she was unable to return to the match.
"They played much better as a team on the court," Jackson said about the differences between Madonna this season and in the past. "She is a good coach. She knows what she is doing. You could tell that. They never stopped. They played with a lot of confidence too."
Individually for Madonna, Boyd tallied four aces, two digs, seven assists and one kill, Madi Owens delivered one ace, eight digs, five kills and three blocks and Rylee Birkhimer recorded two aces, four digs and seven kills. Also for the Blue Dons, Abigail Boyd added two digs, three kills and four blocks, Jules Tomshack collected two digs, one kill and four blocks and Chloe Orecchio contributed 15 digs and three assists. Finally, Geena Birkhimer ended up with one kill and 10 blocks, Danyka DeCaria produced one ace and 10 digs and Hannah Dalfol finished with two digs.
"I keep up on the film," Hissam said. "I scouted them. I knew what to expect."
Toronto was able to take control of the match in the third set as the Red-and-White were able to keep the momentum on their side.
Jayna Reeves had 16 kills, seven digs and four aces for the Red Knights, while Chloe Fisher tallied 20 assists, seven digs, five kills and two blocks, Gracee Rex recorded 22 digs, four assists and an ace, Tatum Derrington had four blocks, three kills, and two digs, JJ Rebich recorded three aces, five assists, seven digs and a kill, Emma Parella tallied three kills and seven digs, Jaylee Brown finished with nine digs and Jsoey Dickinson tallied two aces, three digs and a kill.
"It is really nice to get a win," Jackson said. "This is our second win of hopefully many this season. The girls work really hard in practice. They worked really hard in the summer.
"We had some injuries. We had one girl get a concussion. We had another girl get an illness at the start of the season. It is nice that we are getting back into the swing of things. It is nice the girls are back on the court."
Toronto is scheduled to play Southern Local tonight at home.
Madonna is slated to play Clay-Battelle Thursday on the road.