Trojan volleyball back on track with sweep of Cheney, Haven

The Hillsboro volleyball team got back on the winning track Sept. 11 with a sweep of two matches at Cheney.

The Trojans, now 14-1 for the season, overcame a strong host team, 27-25, 24-26, 25-17, before handling Haven in the nightcap, 25-12, 25-13. The Haven matchup was Hillsboro?s first league match of the season.

Cheney came into the evening with a 6-1 record. Com?ing off a disappointing loss to Council Grove its last time out, Hillsboro jumped to an early lead in Game 1.

?We started out really good against Cheney and put to use some of the things we had worked on in practice?like being creative on our attacks and finding holes,? coach Sandy Arnold said.

Even so, the Cardinals rallied to make it close. Hills?boro had a chance to win at 24-23, but a missed serve tied the game. The Trojans then scored three of the next five points to secure the win.

The Cardinals turned the tables in Game 2, jumping to an early 7-1 lead. Hillsboro climbed to within three points, and more or less maintained that margin through the middle of the game.

In the end though, Hillsboro couldn?t overcome the deficit and lost the final point on a serving error.

Arnold said toward the end of Game 2, the Trojans shifted their approach from finesse to power. HHS continued that approach in Game 3 and the results led the Trojans to a relatively comfortable win. With the score 20-17, Danae Bina served for the final five points as Hills?boro shut the door on the game and the match.

?(Finesse) was good in the beginning because we need to know how to score when we?re having a hard time putting the ball down,? Arnold said. ?But I also thought the aggressive attack at the end was good, too.?

Although the wins over Haven were by comfortable margins, Arnold said she was concerned about the Wildcats going into the match.

?They had just played Cheney over the weekend and took them to three games,? she said. ?I was a little surprised at the scores of our games. They have two good hitters, so I wasn?t really sure. But we did play better.?

Overall, Arnold said she liked the way her team responded to the Council Grove loss.

?We had some pretty intense practices,? she said. ?I think there was a little more focus, and an understanding that we?re going to have to work every time we step on the floor.?

Coming?After playing 15 matches in the first 21?2 weeks of the season, the Trojans, ranked No. 2 in Class 3A, will play no more matches this week, and next week will have only a triangular Sept. 18 at Kingman. The matches with Pratt and King?man will count toward league standings.

Arnold said she appreciates the quasi-break.

?I don?t think the kids like it as much because that means one more day of practice,? she said. ?I like it because it?s one more day of practice. We have some things I know we need to work on, and we?re going to have more time here to do that.?

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