After its season-opening loss to Genoa-Kingston last week, the Rockets looked to rebound Monday in their home opener against Antioch. It was evident early that R-B had its hands full against the Sequoits.

“We came out really slow and were really nervous playing in front of a big crowd and a lot of students,” said the Rockets' Bailey Dean (above). “Our intensity improved in the second set, and we started to play better. We just need to talk and communicate more and get off to a quicker start and we will start to play much better.”

Antioch took advantage of the slow start by R-B and held on in the second set as the Sequoits defeated the Rockets, 25-15, 25-23, in a nonconference match at R-B.

In the first set, R-B (0-2) started off slowly and Antioch played a nearly perfect set. The Sequoits jumped out to an early lead and quickly turned that into a double-digit lead. Senior Kayla Malec (above, center) had four early kills to keep R-B close, but the Rockets were doomed by too many mistakes.

“It felt like we came in way too confident and acted like we expected to win but didn’t really play like it,” Malec said. “Our serve-and-receive game was much better in the second set, but we gave them way too many easy balls, and they took advantage.”

The Rockets played much better in the second set and cut down on the errors, but in the end the Sequoits came up with the plays when they needed them. The Rockets were led by Malec with eight kills and Dean who with 15 assists and five digs.

“We came out really slow and did not defend very well,” R-B coach Kaycee Kaywood said. “We had a lot of errors in that first set and came out so slow. We were able to eliminate a lot of the errors in the second set and played better. We are a pretty young team and in these early matches are gaining some valuable experience as we get ready for conference play.”

Antioch had an answer all match for the Rockets and relied on the net play of Kat Barr (above, left) and Sally Bessette.

“We had a lot of energy, especially in that first set, and really played well,” Sequoits coach Greg Bruns said. “We made a lot of smart plays and really fed off our energy. In the second set, Richmond-Burton did a nice job of coming back, and we knew they would. It was back and forth the whole set, and we were able to come out on top.”