Hillsboro volleyball upends rival McClain in four sets
Lead Summary
By
Stephen Forsha-sforsha@gmail.com
HILLSBORO — For the first time in quite some while, the Hillsboro Lady Indians defeated Highland County foe McClain with a four-set victory Tuesday night, while in the process winning a Frontier Athletic Conference contest.
The Lady Indians have now won two straight games, winning on Saturday and following that with the win over the Lady Tigers. McClain won the first set by a 25-20 score, but Hillsboro rallied to win the next three by scores of 25-19, 25-23 and 25-20 en route to the victory.
“We are very happy for our girls,” HHS head coach Nichole Dickey said. “They won on Saturday, and so to come off Saturday with a win, and then to win here tonight over McClain, we are extremely excited.
“The girls are working well together. We have one senior, three juniors, two sophomores and two freshmen, and they are all on the floor. They are starting to talk better and better as the season continues. It was a little rough in the beginning, but they are hanging in there and working hard, so I’m proud of all of them.”
The first set was tied early on at 3-3, but McClain broke the tied score, and later, with the help off a serve by Camryn McCoy, MHS led by an 8-4 score over HHS. The score got to 10-9 at one point in the set, but the Lady Tigers stood strong and continued to battle with the Lady Indians, eventually winning the first set by a 25-20 score.
HHS came back with a set two win by a 25-19 score, winning by six points and tying the overall score at 1-1.
In a very competitive third set, the two teams battled close early and basically throughout the entire set as the score was tied at 5-5, 6-6 and 8-8, only to see the Lady Tigers break all three ties, eventually leading 10-8 folioing a block by Maddy Crawford.
HHS tied the score at 10-10, then took a one-point advantage with a serve from Mya Bell. McClain came back by tying the score at 11 off a point from a kill by Jaelyn Pitzer. McClain eventually held a two-point advantage following an out-of-bounds hit by HHS and a serve from Evelyn Vanzant.
The Lady Indians were then tied with MHS following the Lady Tigers hitting their side of the net off a serve and then not being able to return the ball back over the net. MHS regained the lead following points where HHS hit their side of the net, then a play at the net by Pitzer for what was a 15-13 lead.
Later in set three, the score was tied at 15 when Hillsboro’s Gracie Dean had an ace. HHS took the lead at 16-15, only to have it tied at 16 and then again at 17. That trend continued with a tied score of 18.
Following a hit by Crawford of MHS, the Lady Tigers led at 19-18. After McClain struggled with a serve and the score was tied at 19, MHS rebounded and took the lead back off a point by Pitzer.
Hillsboro called a timeout and then scored a point for a 21-20 score. The score was then tied at 21, and HHS regained the advantage with a kill by Dean.
Hillsboro’s Dean finished the match with 19 kills, seven assists, five aces, 16 digs and two blocks.
McClain didn’t back down; rather, they tied the score at 22, then built a one-point lead.
The Lady Tigers tied the score at 22 after HHS hit the ball out of play and led 23-22 when Vanzant had an excellent serve for MHS. HHS called another timeout and tied the score at 23. HHS scored the final two points of the third set with a hit from Sinai Roberts at the net, and then a serve by Julie Middleton wasn’t returned, leading to a 25-23 set win and a 2-1 team lead.
Middleton totaled two aces and 16 digs for the Lady Indians. Roberts totaled four assists, 12 digs and one block.
In what ended up being the final set of the FAC match in set four, HHS led 23-17, but as MHS was rallying back, it was the Lady Indians who called a timeout.
HHS increased their lead to 24-17 with a point at the net by Jolee Cummings. MHS came back with points from Iva Easter and Crawford, but HHS was able to secure the FAC win by scoring the final two points of the set and match.
Also for the Lady Indians, Emma Birkhimer totaled six kills, one assist, 14 digs and three blocks. Kinsey Gilliland finished the match for HHS with three kills, one assist and three digs. Rylie Scott totaled 12 assists and three digs. Cummings finished with five kills, one dig and five blocks, and teammate Lexie Swayne had one block.
“This is a huge win for the girls,” Dickey said of the win. “It has been a while since we beat McClain, so it is huge. We had great fans tonight, and they were really into the game. Also, congratulations to our JV team in their win as well.”
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The Lady Indians have now won two straight games, winning on Saturday and following that with the win over the Lady Tigers. McClain won the first set by a 25-20 score, but Hillsboro rallied to win the next three by scores of 25-19, 25-23 and 25-20 en route to the victory.
“We are very happy for our girls,” HHS head coach Nichole Dickey said. “They won on Saturday, and so to come off Saturday with a win, and then to win here tonight over McClain, we are extremely excited.
“The girls are working well together. We have one senior, three juniors, two sophomores and two freshmen, and they are all on the floor. They are starting to talk better and better as the season continues. It was a little rough in the beginning, but they are hanging in there and working hard, so I’m proud of all of them.”
The first set was tied early on at 3-3, but McClain broke the tied score, and later, with the help off a serve by Camryn McCoy, MHS led by an 8-4 score over HHS. The score got to 10-9 at one point in the set, but the Lady Tigers stood strong and continued to battle with the Lady Indians, eventually winning the first set by a 25-20 score.
HHS came back with a set two win by a 25-19 score, winning by six points and tying the overall score at 1-1.
In a very competitive third set, the two teams battled close early and basically throughout the entire set as the score was tied at 5-5, 6-6 and 8-8, only to see the Lady Tigers break all three ties, eventually leading 10-8 folioing a block by Maddy Crawford.
HHS tied the score at 10-10, then took a one-point advantage with a serve from Mya Bell. McClain came back by tying the score at 11 off a point from a kill by Jaelyn Pitzer. McClain eventually held a two-point advantage following an out-of-bounds hit by HHS and a serve from Evelyn Vanzant.
The Lady Indians were then tied with MHS following the Lady Tigers hitting their side of the net off a serve and then not being able to return the ball back over the net. MHS regained the lead following points where HHS hit their side of the net, then a play at the net by Pitzer for what was a 15-13 lead.
Later in set three, the score was tied at 15 when Hillsboro’s Gracie Dean had an ace. HHS took the lead at 16-15, only to have it tied at 16 and then again at 17. That trend continued with a tied score of 18.
Following a hit by Crawford of MHS, the Lady Tigers led at 19-18. After McClain struggled with a serve and the score was tied at 19, MHS rebounded and took the lead back off a point by Pitzer.
Hillsboro called a timeout and then scored a point for a 21-20 score. The score was then tied at 21, and HHS regained the advantage with a kill by Dean.
Hillsboro’s Dean finished the match with 19 kills, seven assists, five aces, 16 digs and two blocks.
McClain didn’t back down; rather, they tied the score at 22, then built a one-point lead.
The Lady Tigers tied the score at 22 after HHS hit the ball out of play and led 23-22 when Vanzant had an excellent serve for MHS. HHS called another timeout and tied the score at 23. HHS scored the final two points of the third set with a hit from Sinai Roberts at the net, and then a serve by Julie Middleton wasn’t returned, leading to a 25-23 set win and a 2-1 team lead.
Middleton totaled two aces and 16 digs for the Lady Indians. Roberts totaled four assists, 12 digs and one block.
In what ended up being the final set of the FAC match in set four, HHS led 23-17, but as MHS was rallying back, it was the Lady Indians who called a timeout.
HHS increased their lead to 24-17 with a point at the net by Jolee Cummings. MHS came back with points from Iva Easter and Crawford, but HHS was able to secure the FAC win by scoring the final two points of the set and match.
Also for the Lady Indians, Emma Birkhimer totaled six kills, one assist, 14 digs and three blocks. Kinsey Gilliland finished the match for HHS with three kills, one assist and three digs. Rylie Scott totaled 12 assists and three digs. Cummings finished with five kills, one dig and five blocks, and teammate Lexie Swayne had one block.
“This is a huge win for the girls,” Dickey said of the win. “It has been a while since we beat McClain, so it is huge. We had great fans tonight, and they were really into the game. Also, congratulations to our JV team in their win as well.”
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