Sealing the deal
H-M-S prevails in final 2 sets to defeat West Sioux
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MIKE PETERSEN/SENTINEL-NEWS
Abby Kunzman pushes the ball toward the opposing court. The senior had five kills in H-M-S's 3-2 win over West Sioux.
The ebb and flow of the first three sets of Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn's volleyball match on Sept. 8 indicated a positive trend line for West Sioux. But prospects soon brightened in a big way for the home team, who dominated the final two sets to claim a 3-2 win.
H-M-S earned its first War Eagle Conference win by scores of 24-26, 25-22, 23-25, 25-14 and 15-2.
The momentum shifted as often in each of the first three sets as the final outcomes.
"I felt like our girls were trying to do the right things, but we just couldn't pull away from West Sioux. At times we were just over anxious and leaving too soon, causing us to get ahead of our hits and not be accurate," said Hawk coach Cheryl Kroese. "Many times we had the momentum in set 3, but then missed a critical serve to lose it."
Once the Hawks took the lead in the fourth set, they did pull away from the Falcons.
"Set 4 definitely showed what we are capable of," Kroese noted. "I'm so proud of how we came out explosively. The girls put up an impressive 19 kills in that set alone."
The Hawks "played with fire" as they built a 12-0 lead in the clincher.
"Frankie [Mohni] did an amazing job taking over with her serves – she recorded four aces in that stretch – and our offense rolled off another seven kills to seal the deal," Kroese said.
H-M-S dominated at the net, recording 45 kills on 155 attack attempts. Kylee Schiphoff had 13 kills, Abby Douma put down 11, Elise Haack had nine, and Abby Kunzman and Eliza Tewes each had five. Mohni was credited with 35 set assists.
In serving, Mohni was 25-of-29 with nine aces; Kunzman was 23-of-24; Haack was 16-of-16; Emily Mutombo was 12-of-14; Morgan Grooters was 9-of-9; and Kinsey Schirmer and Douma were both 7-of-8.
Contributing to the Hawks' total of 68 digs were Kunzman with 17, Haack and Mohni with 13 each, Mutombo with eight, Abby Otto with six and Tewes with five.
"I'm so proud of these young ladies and how they have worked so hard," Kroese observed. "We are figuring out what we need to do each night to prepare for our games and they have really grown in playing as a team."
• vs. Trinity Christian
H-M-S and Trinity Christian traded wins in the first two sets but the Tigers would have the advantage the rest of the match in their 3-1 victory. Trinity Christian won the conference match on Sept. 6 in Hartley by scores of 25-20, 22-25, 25-16 and 26-24.
The Hawks out-hit the Tigers (116-99) but the winners made their attacks count, finishing with a 34-22 edge in kills. Trinity Christian also had more serves and aces (17-10).
At the net, Schiphoff finished with 12 kills and Haack had four. Haack had one solo block and two assists, and Douma had two assists.
In addition to putting up 17 set assists, Mohni was 16-of-18 in serving with two aces; Kunzman was 13-of-17; Douma was 10-of-13 with four aces; Otto was 12-of-13; Haack was 10-of-11; and Mutombo was 9-of-10.
Leaders in digs for H-M-S were Otto with 15, Haack with 13, Kunzman with 10, Mohni with nine and Mutombo with seven.
H-M-S (2-5,1-2) will compete in the GT/RA tournament at Graettinger on Sept. 17 and then host Remsen St. Mary's on Sept. 20.
