PRESTON — Stepping into the gym at Preston High School on Tuesday night, the atmosphere felt different, more strained than usual, even for a volleyball rivalry game between Preston and Northeast.

“You could feel tension between the crowds,” Preston senior setter Cassie Aldis said. “Preston and Northeast have always been rivals.”

The rivalry was racheted up a notch. The polls for the vote on whether to combine East Central and Preston school districts into Easton Valley or to continue East Central’s whole-grade sharing program with Northeast closed during the match.

Almost half of the crowd was wearing shirts that promoted voting yes to Easton Valley. The other half was decked out in Northeast blue.

Northeast coach Brenda McKone, who coached at East Central before the high school closed after the 2010-11 school year, and Preston coach Denise Larson delivered a joint statement before the match, urging the crowd to cheer positively for their teams and not against the other team and pointing out the match was about the athletes competing.

“With everything going on — it’s obviously the vote and we obviously have two different opinions, not saying Brenda and I do, but everybody involved — we wanted to make sure that people were respectful,” Larson said. “We wanted it to be about the kids playing and not about the vote.”

The crowd complied for much of the match. But late in the third game, the Preston student section began an “Easton Valley” chant, after receiving word the consolidation passed.

Preston, ranked 14th in Class 1A, got the win on the court, too, topping its Big East rival 25-14, 25-13, 25-15.

Aldis, who transferred to Preston a year ago after East Central shut its high school, said it wasn’t difficult for the Trojans to shut out the distractions of the vote and focus on the match.

“We really focused on playing as a team and not worrying about outside conflicts,” she said. “That’s something that our coach really stressed.”

Their focus was evident by the way the Trojans (15-4, 3-0 conference) started the match.

Preston scored five of the first six points, with Ryleigh Keeney, another former East Central player, accounting for four, two on kills and two on aces.

“We knew it was going to be a tough game, so we wanted to start on top and get really excited,” Keeney said. “I was just trying to help my team.”

From there, Preston stretched its lead to 15-5 and didn’t allow Northeast to score more than three points in a row for the whole game.

Preston served six of its 10 aces in the opening game. Keeney and Lizzie Meier each had four for the match.

“We’ve been trying to serve more aggressively in practice,” Keeney said.

Half of Preston’s 10 Game 1 kills came from the right side, which is usually used less.

“We try to mix it up as much as we can,” Aldis said. “But since the right side was working, we’re going to go to the right side. It’s just how you play the game.”

The Trojans got out to big leads in each of the three games.

“That’s always huge,” Larson said. “It definitely gives you a boost of confidence. It can also take a toll on the other team. It’s hard when you dig a hole, to get yourself back out of that.”

Preston led 4-1 and 8-3 in Game 2, but Northeast (5-9, 1-2) rallied by scoring the next three points. Ashley Kruse came up with a solo block, Brittany Stoll served an ace and the Trojans committed an error.

But three Northeast errors and a Keeney kill gave Preston back the momentum.

Brooke Krogman helped finish off the game with three monster kills among the last five Preston points. Krogman recorded six of her match-high 13 kills in Game 2, after having only two in the opening game.

“She’s powerful,” Larson said. “Brooke’s quick and she’s ready. We just lowered the set a little for her in the second game and caught their blockers off-guard. We gave her a lot of free reign at the net.”

Preston got off to an even better start in Game 3. Krogman had two kills and a block, Aldis and Meier each knocked down a kill, and Keeney served an ace as the Trojans opened a 9-1 lead.

“It gives you a lot more security when you mess up,” Aldis said. “You’re not so worried that one mistake will cost you the game. It’s more like, ‘I missed this one; I’ll get the next one.’”

Northeast, behind Addie Oberman, once again tried to rally. The Rebels scored six of the next seven points, including three in a row on a kill and two aces by Oberman.

But two hitting errors by the Rebels, followed by a Meier kill and a Krogman ace, stretched Preston’s lead from 10-7 to 14-7. Northeast didn’t get closer than six the rest of the way.



PRESTON 25-25-25, NORTHEAST 14-13-15

Individual statistics

Kills — Northeast (Breanna Butler 5, Addie Oberman 4); Preston (Brooke Krogman 13, Lizzie Meier 7, Ryleigh Keeney 5). Assists — Northeast (Lindsey Schmidt 6, Oberman 5); Preston (Cassie Aldis 23). Ace serves — Northeast (Oberman 2, Brittany Stoll 2, Schmidt 1, Courtney Stoll 1); Preston (Meier 4, Keeney 4, Aldis 1, Krogman 1). Blocks — Northeast (Ashley Kruse 1); Preston (Krogman 3, Keeney 1, Larissa Ruchotzke 1).