HHS claims title at ?home? tournament

HHSvbCGHSplaque448

HHSvbCGHSplaque448 HHSvbMoundridgeSerene1

The Hillsboro volleyball team capped a perfect week by winning the Canton-Galva Invita?tional on the Trojans? home court Saturday.

Combined with a sweep of league foes Smoky Valley (25-21, 25-13) and Lyons (25-11, 25-8) on the previous Tuesday, the five tournament victories gave the Trojans a 7-0 week and boosted their season record to 21-3.

The Trojans didn?t drop a single game all day during the tournament, but that doesn?t mean they didn?t encounter a few bumps along the road.

In pool play, Hillsboro posted wins over Canton-Galva (25-11, 25-13), Moundridge (25-16, 25-14) and Goessel (25-15, 26-24).

?I thought we played well against Canton-Galva?you never know coming in so early in the morning and we hadn?t played a tournament for a while,? coach Sandy Arnold said.

Lineup issues complicated the matches against Moundridge and Goessel.

?Against Moundridge, we had two lineups, and we subbed in the wrong lineup, and it really threw my girls off,? Arnold said. ?Basically, I just wanted to get through that game. We did it right the second game.

?In the third match against Goessel, I messed up by putting the wrong number for my libero. We had, again, to make some changes on the fly. The girls handled it fairly well. You get rattled when it first happens.?

Winning their pool with a 3-0 record put the Trojans into the semifinals against Hesston, the runner-up in the other pool.

The relatively comfortable 25-15, 25-15 victory was less than satisfying for Arnold.

?The scores don?t show it, but I didn?t feel like we were the team I wanted to be,? she said. ?I didn?t feel there was any intensity.

?I had a pre-finals pep talk about how we better find some intensity because I knew Hal?stead had just rolled over Goessel easily (25-9, 25-11 in the other semifinals match) and we had not rolled over Goessel (in pool play), nor had I felt like we had rolled over Hesston. I was impressed that we came out the way we did against Halstead.?

The Trojans prevailed against the Dragons, 25-22, 26-24, but it was a battle from the start.

Halstead jumped to a 5-1 lead in Game 1 but the Trojans tied it at 6-6. Neither team led by more than two points until Hillsboro created some breathing room at the end by scoring four of the last five points for the win.

Game 2 was just as tight. The Dragons led narrowly for most of the first half of the game, and Hillsboro for most of the last half. Halstead took its last lead at 24-23 on a kill by its standout 6-foot hitter Aubrie VanSteen?burg.

After a net violation tied the game at 24, Addie Lackey scored the final two kills to give HHS the title.

?We knew that they would be improved, so it was good that we came out with a strong mental attitude,? Arnold said. ?I thought my girls learned to win in a pressure situation. I was very excited about that.?

Hillsboro had the advantage of playing on its home court because the gym at Canton-Galva is being repaired.

?I think the girls loved it?I know I did,? Arnold said. ?I think there?s definitely a little bit of an advantage having it here.?

One advantage was that Canton-Galva uses a single court for bracket play, while Hillsboro used two.

?At Canton, you find yourself sitting for a long time,? she said. ?I felt it was probably good to go right into that championship match and not have to sit and watch Halstead dominate Goessel, and maybe get nervous because of what they saw them do.?

As pleased as Arnold was with the way her team competed for the title, she said her team can?t rest on its accomplishment.

?This was a good way to boost our confidence, but we?re going to have to play at that high level the whole rest of the season.?

Coming?Hillsboro was scheduled to travel to Halstead for a double-dual Tuesday to face Hesston and Sterling in league matches. On Thursday, Hillsboro will host Class 5A Newton and Great Bend in a triangular at Brown Gymnasium. Matches begin at 5 p.m.

More from Hillsboro Free Press
Sterling College Jazz band visits HMHS
Back row: Jake Pieplow, Nya Williamson, Robbie Stansbury, Macy Brownlee, Luke Harding,...
Read More