It was one of those nights the Hillsboro volleyball team would prefer to forget. But the coach hopes it won?t.
An up-and-down performance at Haven last Tuesday cost the Trojans a game against a home team they should have handled easily, and a match against a good Cheney squad.
?I hope we can learn from it,? coach Sandy Arnold said.
Against Haven, the Trojans built a 21-12 lead in the first game only to turn tentative. The Wildcats, who came in with a 2-10 record, reeled off 13 straight points for a stunning 25-21 comeback win.
?We sort of self-destructed,? Arnold said. ?We didn?t attack. We started doing the old play-not-to-lose thing instead of doing what we had been doing to beat them. They hadn?t really been stopping us.?
When Game 2 started in a similar vein, Arnold called a timeout and made her point loud and clear: ?Hit the ball.?
?It was pretty quiet in the gym when I said it,? Arnold said with a smile. ?I think everybody probably heard it.?
Certainly her Trojans did, and went on to a convincing 25-12 win?only to slip back into first-game mode in Game 3. This time, though, they stopped a late Haven run and nailed down a 25-21 win to take the match.
?It was kind of a roller-coaster night in that match,? Arnold said.
Against Cheney, led by all-state performer, 6-foot, 3-inch Merissa Quick, the Trojans struggled to maintain consistency and lost by convincing scores, 25-18, 25-13.
?They?re very talented,? Arnold said of the Cardinals, who were 9-0 coming into the evening and improved to 12-0 after matches Thursday.
?At this point in the season, I?d say they are a better team than we are. But I didn?t feel we gave them a very good challenge at all. I was disappointed in that.
?I think we were intimidated, unfortunately.?
Even with a sparkling 13-2 record, Arnold is hoping her team came home with a reality check.
?We may have won some ballgames, and we may have a winning team, but we?re not where we need to be yet,? she said. ?This is probably good for our girls. Our defense needs some work and we?re going to take a close look at that this week.
?We?ll see how they bounce back from this.?
Coming?The Trojans were scheduled Tuesday to play league matches at home against Pratt (8-5) and Kingman (6-9).
Next Tuesday they travel to Smoky Valley for a league double-dual with the Vikings (7-6), Lyons (5-6) and Sterling (2-14).
