Fairfield defeats Hillsboro; HHS hosts Volley for a Cure game

Tuesday evening after holding pregame ceremonies for their Volley for a Cure game, the Hillsboro Lady Indians hosted Fairfield, where the Lady Lions defeated the hosts in four sets.

The Volley for a Cure event was held to honor  Mendy Hamilton as she continues her battle against cancer, as there were live auctions, silent auctions and bake sales to raise money for the Volley for a Cure event.

As for the game, Fairfield won with scores of 25-22 (set one), 25-14 (set three) and 25-20 (set four).  Hillsboro won the second set at 25-11.

There were no tied scores in set one ,and Fairfield led the entire way as they jumped out to a 3-0 lead, and later, following kills by Jobey Hattan, the Lady Lions led at Hillsboro with a 5-1 score.

As the first set continued, Hattan and Remi Moon helped put Fairfield ahead at 9-4, and later the Lady Lions were in front at 13-6. Hillsboro in that span had points off hits by Samantha Tipton and Tylee Davis.

HHS brought their deficit to 14-8 when Ryan Wagoner scored a point, but a block at the net by Fairfield’s Kelsey Clark — who later earned her 1,000th career assist — put Fairfield ahead 15-8.

HHS battled back to a three-point deficit at 16-13 with help from Camryn Spruell, but a point scored by Jaeden Drury of Fairfield pushed the Lady Lions in front by four points at 17-13.

Hillsboro kept fighting back, with FHS having an out-of-play hit, plus two points off kills by Davis, making it a one-point HHS deficit at 17-16. Again, FHS answered with a run of three straight points for a 20-16 lead, and later, after a point was scored by McKinley Cox, Fairfield led 21-17.

Hillsboro had another comeback effort left in set one with a kill by Tipton, and later a point scored off a serve from Kayla Seeling made it again a one-point game at 22-21 in favor of the visiting Lady Lions.

A point scored by Clark put Fairfield ahead by two points, but the lead went back to one again when Tipton added a point to the Lady Indians’ side of the scoreboard. Clark added to Fairfield’s score with another point from the front row, and a block by Fairfield’s Mackenzie Anderson ended set one for the three-point (25-22) win for FHS.

Hillsboro controlled most of set two with strong play at the start, leading 4-0, and later 7-2, while forcing Fairfield to call a timeout. HHS continued to add to their lead at 8-2, and then that lead went to 9-3 with a point from Tipton.

After serves from Spruell and more big hits by Tipton, the Lady Indians’ lead was at 16-6. HHS finished set two by outscoring FHS 9-5 for the 25-11 win, as two of the later points were off serves from Wagoner.

It was Fairfield’s turn to lead early to start a set, taking a 5-0 lead to start set three with some of the points coming from a play at the net by Clark and an ace by Moon.

Fairfield led the entire third set, though Hillsboro made it a 7-4 score with a point by Spruell. Later, Hattan lifted the Lady Lions ahead by four points, and Alyssa Bales made it a five-point FHS lead at 11-6.

Hillsboro came back as Jadi Howland had an ace, but Fairfield made it a 16-10 lead with consecutive points scored by McKinley Cox, Hattan and Moon. Clark added to the Lady Lion lead with another point at the net for a score of 18-12, and when the score became 19-13, that’s when Clark reached the 1,000th career assist milestone.

Drury scored a point for Farfield for a 21-13 score, and then an ace from Hattan left Fairfield ahead at 22-13. Later, a block from Drury, and a point scored by Anderson, gave FHS the set three win at 25-14.

The fourth set was eventually the final set played, though the set itself was the closest played throughout as there were a total of eight ties, as the first three sets had a total of zero ties. The scores were tied from 1-1 up to 19-19, as at one point the score went tied from 5-5 to 9-9.

After the score was tied at 19 (the final time there was a tie), Fairfield broke the tie with a play at the front of the net by Cox. From there, FHS had points scored by Hattan making the score a 23-20 lead, and eventually the fourth set and match ended with a serve by Cox being hit out of play by Hillsboro for the 25-20 win.

Team leaders for FHS included Hattan (18 kills and 25 digs), Clark (39 assists), Moon (three aces) and Cox and Drury (two block each). Other notable stats for FHS included Moon (13 kills, 17 digs), Anderson (15 digs), Clark (14 digs) and Bales (11 digs).

Hillsboro’s team leaders included Tipton (19 kills, two blocks), five players with one ace (Howland, Seeling, Wagoner, Davis, Spruell), Davis (23 digs) and Seeling (35 assists). Other notable HHS stats were Davis (10 kills), Howland (21 assists), Seeling (12 digs), Wagoner (19 digs) and Addison Huff (13 digs).

Hillsboro is now 14-7 overall, while Fairfield improves to 14-6 on the season.

Next for Hillsboro is a regular-season finale game on Thursday, Oct. 10 at home vs. the Clinton-Massie Lady Falcons in non-conference action at around 7 p.m.

Fairfield faced Paint Valley on Wednesday, Oct. 9 at home (winning 3-0), and on Thursday, Oct. 10 they are scheduled for a regular-season finale at Fayetteville as they’ll wrap up their SHAC season as well.

BOX SCORE
Set 1: 25-22 (FHS)
Set 2: 25-11 (HHS)
Set 3: 25-14 (FHS)
Set 4: 25-20 (FHS).

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