One Keck of an effort: Raiders win home opener behind quality serve receive from junior libero

QUINCY — As often as Kourtney Keck sprawled out in an attempt to dig up every shot that came her way, she was bound to leave The Pit on Thursday night with some floor burns.

“A couple,” the Quincy Notre Dame volleyball team’s junior libero said.

She shrugged that off.

“That’s not unusual,” she said. “I’m used to them by now.”

Keck’s ability to get balls off the floor, deliver quality passes and start the Raiders’ attack proved critical in a 25-8, 25-11 victory over West Hancock in the home opener.

“Crazy good,” junior setter Annie Eaton said of Keck’s serve receive. “I’m super proud of her. I expected her to take a little time to step into the libero role, but she’s done it right now. I’m really proud of her, and I know throughout the season she’s just going to keep getting better.”

The maturation of the Raiders depends on it.

QND returned two starters in Eaton and outside hitter Emma Hoing from last season’s super-sectional qualifier, although senior outside hitter Delaney Beard and middle blocker Eva Breckenkamp saw playing time in the 34-win season.

The graduation of libero Faith Kientzle and defensive specialist Lilly Marth — both are now playing in college — left the Raiders curious how the serve receive and defensive efforts would evolve.

In stepped Keck, and with Beard and Hoing playing a full rotation, digging and passing look to be strengths.

“I like how we all mesh,” Keck said. “We all have the confidence in each other that you can get the ball. It’s nice to have girls alongside me that I have played with forever. I didn’t play a whole lot last season, but I want to be a leader and bring confidence to the girls who struggle a little bit.”

Eaton said chemistry has been phenomenal.

“We’ve had a really good connection on the court,” Eaton said. “We’ve meshed well together. Our serve receive has been on point, so that makes my job really easy. My hitters are talking to me really well, and I’m talking to them. So we have that good connection at the net.”

So far, the offense has been in sync. QND scored nine of the first 10 points in the first set and steadily pulled away in the second set with Hoing, Beard and Breckenkamp finishing Eaton’s sets. Rarely were the Raiders out of position.

“We’ve really focused on our discipline,” Eaton said.

A disciplined approach means not many balls are hitting the floor.

“It’s the communication,” Keck said. “We communicate and we work hard in practice. We’re finally starting to get in the groove. It’s nice knowing that if I can’t get to a ball they’ve got it.”