With Rooker serving at 10-8, Hillsboro extended its lead to 14-8. A Kaufman kill won the serve back to the Trojan side, and Candace Weinbrenner dropped in back-to-back-to-back aces for an 18-9 lead. Another Kaufman kill made it 19-9.
Then, with Chassidy Carlson serving, Marion chopped it to 19-13. Skiles pushed the bulge back to 22-15, but a kill by Heerey again cut it to six.
Hillsboro misfired on consecutive attacks, giving the Warriors a hint of life at 22-18, but a Kaufman kill snuffed out the rally.
Heerey pounded down Marion?s last point, 24-19. But Hillsboro out-rallied their neighbors to take the next point and the match.
Hillsboro vs. Hesston?The Trojans led 3-1 in the first game, but won only two of the next 10 points to fall behind 5-9. A kill by Dakota Kaufman ended that run, but Hesston put a similar stretch together to lead 12-18.
Again, a Kaufman kill ended the run, and again proved insufficient to turn the tide, as the Swathers swept eight of the final nine points.
The Trojans scrapped their way into ties of 5-5, 7-7 and 8-8 in the second game, but ended up derailing themselves with a series of mistimed attacks that allowed Hesston to pull away, extending their lead to 12 points at 8-20.
Marion vs. Hesston?The Warriors appeared somewhat less than focused in the first game against Hesston and the Swathers, still in a groove after wins over Hillsboro, handed out a thrashing as Marion had difficulty mitigating outside hitter Dominique Chew.
But after falling behind 5-15 in the second game, the Warriors discovered their defensive intensity, and the Swathers struggled to finish the match.
A kill by Kayley Heerey followed by a block by Julia Zeiner, followed by an ace by Tiffany Christensen cut the gap to 11-12.
Hesston expanded it back to seven at 13-20, prompting a timeout from coach Jim Versch. The Warriors then began to whittle away at the lead again, cutting it to 20-24, with Lindsay Hett stepping to the service line.
Marion won three straight points with Hett serving?two on kills by Heerey?and Swathers coach Jason Peters called timeout.
The timeout failed to break Hett?s rhythm, and her serve forced Hesston to cede the attack back to Marion. From there, sharp passing set up a chance for Heerey to knot it at 24-all.
But the Swathers blocked her spike down to close out the game.
Coming?Along with Lyons, Hillsboro played Tuesday at Nickerson. The next varsity action is Sept. 23 at Halstead in a triangular with the hosts, Hillsboro and Smoky Valley set to square off at 5 p.m.
Marion hosted a triangular Sept. 16 and will host its invitational tournament starting Saturday morning.
