Hillsboro volleyball continues on tournament road

HILLSBORO — Taking three sets and just over one hour of action, the No. 7 seeded Hillsboro Lady Indians defeated the No. 10 Chesapeake Lady Panthers in the Division IV SE District Quarterfinals on Wednesday at Hillsboro High School.  

Hillsboro won the tournament contest by scores of 25-17, 25-19 and 25-14. 

The win gives the Lady Indians an overall record of 17-6, while ending Chesapeake’s season at 10-12 overall. 

“We watched a lot of film and were able to pick up their weak spots, and the girls were really good about being aggressive when they needed to, or they were off picking their weak spots too and getting the ball and getting the score,” HHS head coach Heather Jones said. “All the girls played well as a team. 

“All of our passers, every single one of our passers, were on. This game was probably the best we’ve had with passers. Our setter (Emmalee Young) was on all night, and our hitters were on. As a whole team, we did a good job.”

In the first set, the Lady Panthers were the leaders at 4-1, then as the opening set continued, the Lady Indians rallied in front of their home crowd for a one-point deficit at 6-5. Later, they held an 8-7 lead, an advantage they didn’t relinquish for the remainder of the first set. 

HHS took a 10-7 lead when sophomore Emmalee Young had a point scored at the front of the net. Later, the lead for Hillsboro was 12-10 when senior Tylee Davis had a kill, and as the set kept moving along, it was a 14-12 HHS lead following a point scored by senior Marianne Mycroft. 

HHS later held a 18-15 lead when junior Riley Pence scored a point at the net, and following serves by senior Josie Rhoades and points by senior Ryan Wagoner, it was the Lady Indians who were one point away from taking the opening set at 24-17. After two points scored by CHS, Hillsboro won the first set at 25-17 when the Lady Panthers were unable to return the ball into play, hitting it out of bounds for the HHS win. 

“At the beginning of each set we were down by five or six, which is not ideal, especially when you are playing a team that is super competitive, but the girls wanted it really bad, and they were able to just compete and were able to get the momentum back,” Jones said. 

The second set was the closest played with the score being tied five times, from 1-1 to 18-18. 

Chesapeake began the second set with a 5-1 lead, and later, Hillsboro tied the set score at 6-6. CHS regained the lead and built it to 8-6, but Hillsboro came back for an 8-8 score, and then it was the home team rallying for a 10-8 lead and later a 14-10 advantage. 

Eventually, the score was tied at 17 points each, then 18-18, but that was until the Lady Indians had other plans and scored four more points in a row for a 22-18 lead. HHS eventually won the second set with three consecutive points scored by Wagoner with a tip at the net for point 23, then two serves for the 25-19 win. 

In the third set, Hillsboro and Chesapeake were tied twice at 1-1 and 8-8, but Hillsboro never trailed following the tied score at 1-1. This set saw the Lady Indians have Wagoner and Mycroft help build a 7-2 advantage, but CHS rallied for the 8-8 score. From there, the Lady Indians built a lead of six points at 16-10 after a kill from Davis. 

As the set continued, Young had an ace on a serve for a 21-14 score, then it was a hit at the net by senior Scarlett Perkins for a 23-14 Hillsboro lead. 

Another point scored by Young brought the Lady Indians to within a point of winning the third set and match, and that point came on the next point scored with the usual power hitter Davis just lifting the ball over the net and to the floor against the Lady Panthers for the 25-14 win. 

“I would love to see a hit in the point, but (Tylee) knew that was one of their weak spots, and she was off with the set, and she got the point to win it for us,” Jones said. 

Next for the Lady Indians is a Division IV SE District Semifinal match on Thursday, Oct. 29 at Logan High School as they will be facing the No. 2 seeded Wheelersburg Lady Pirates (19-3) at 6 p.m. 

“We are excited, and the girls will be working really hard, picking apart Wheelersburg and figuring out their weak spots,” Jones said. “Wheelersburg is a very competitive team, and we have a huge challenge, but as long as the girls come out and play on the floor, I don’t doubt they will give them a run for their money.”