MAROA - Tuesday's volleyball match between Maroa-Forsyth and Monticello was a showdown of undefeated teams. It was showdown for supremacy in the Okaw Valley Conference.

But very quickly, it turned into a one-person show. Maroa senior Rachel Hockaday was dominant, lodging 16 kills, six digs and two blocks. The Trojans, in turn, followed suit, and left with a 25-20, 25-19 victory.

"This is a player who will always rise to the occasion," Maroa coach Jamie Florey said. "I'm so thankful to be coaching her has a first-year coach."

Perhaps not coincidentally, Hockaday was on serve for the runs that spearheaded Maroa in both games. It was a 7-0 spurt in the first game that pushed the score to 20-11.

In the second game, it was another 7-0 run that erased a 6-0 start by the Sages. That run featured two kills apiece from Bridget Bowman, Abby Cole and Maria Blumhorst. By the time it ended, Maroa (20-0, 6-0 Okaw Valley) had a one-point lead that it wouldn't relinquish.

"We were gearing up in practice for two weeks, scouting them. I think we felt really confident," Hockaday said. "We played well. I feel like it is (our best match) this year, by far."

Hockaday has plenty of power, and she used it to her advantage. Some kills came by simply launching the ball downward. Others came on tips and dinks that found the gaps in Monticello's defense.

It was the latter that had Sages coach Annie Camacho irked.

"She got a few good kills where she hit around our blocks. For the most part, I think the loss was our lack of defense," Camacho said. "Not on necessarily the hard hits, but the tips. They found our holes, and we didn't do a good job of moving."

Camacho said Monticello (19-1, 5-1) was nervous from the outset, and it showed. The Sages managed only six points on serve in the first game, a stat they matched by jumping to a 6-0 lead in the second game.

But Monticello was just unable to keep the momentum going.

Maroa did a good job of making those little momentum-savers count, turning them into points.

"Sometimes it's on your side, sometimes its on the other side," Hockaday said. "It depends on the night."

Florey believed it had to do with more than luck.

"That's heart. They're pumped up, but pumping up can only do so much. The heart to get that ball and relentless pursuit � little things like that get the momentum where it needs to go for the team to win," Florey said. "It's really huge.

"I kind of feel like my team has got the shaft. We've got a lot of talented players, and I feel like we've kind of been overlooked. I think throughout the season, we need to show people what we're made of."

Monticello won't get a chance at redemption unless the teams meet in the postseason. If that happens, the team that has received so much motivation from a young Arnold Schwarzenegger this season can only promise one thing.

"We'll be back," Camacho said with a laugh.

Todd Engle can be reached at tengle@herald-review.com or 421-7970.