No scoring punch in volleyball losses

Unable to score points consistently, the Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn volleyball team struggled in a pair of 3-0 losses, including their War Eagle Conference opener.

The Hawks especially struggled to generate offense against rated Gehlen Catholic (1A No. 4) in a home court loss (25-4, 25-13, 25-6) on Aug. 31.

H-M-S scored two points early in the first set, but only managed two more the rest of the way. The Hawks generated more points in the second set but were unable to keep pace with Gehlen Catholic. A brief flurry to start the third set gave H-M-S most of its points.

The Jays dominated at the net, recording 28 kills. They also took advantage of H-M-S's serve receive issues, counting up 22 aces in the match.

"Gehlen Catholic had some phenomenal servers. They kept us out of rhythm the entire match," said Hawk coach Cheryl Kroese. "If we can put the pass up, we give ourselves a chance. It definitely shows us our weakness and what we will be working on to improve."

The Hawks were successful on all but one of their limited serve attempts (24). Abby Otto was 7-of-7, Abby Kunzman was 5-of-5, Elise Haack was 4-of-4, and Emily Mutombo and Kinsey Schirmer were 3-of-3. Haack recorded two ace serves and Otto had one.

Jasmine Lux had three of the Hawks' four kills. Frankie Mohni had two set assists.

On defense, Kaley Pearson had four digs, Mohni had three, and Haack, Kunzman and Otto each had two.

• vs. Sibley-Ocheyedan

H-M-S started strong in each set against Sibley-Ocheyedan, but that would not be enough to prevent a 3-0 loss (25-18, 25-20, 25-18) on Aug. 30 in Hartley.

The Hawks took a quick lead in the first set, only to have S-O move out in front. A brief rally pulled H-M-S to within 16-15 before the Generals reestablished their momentum. The final two sets were competitive, but S-O used strong finishes to claim both wins.

"Overall I was very pleased with our effort. We made some lineup changes and I was pleased with how the girls responded," Kroese said. "Give credit to S-O as they did a great job of not letting a ball hit the ground."

At the net, Jasmine Lux had eight kills and Abby Kunzman and Emily Otto each had four. Elise Haack had two solo blocks, and Lux and Kunzman each had two block assists.

Frankie Mohni was credited with 14 set assists to lead H-M-S.

Haack also contributed 11 digs, Mohni had eight, Abby Otto and Kunzman each had six and Lux added four.

The Hawks struggled at the serving line (78.9 percent). Kaley Pearson was 13-of-14, Emily Mutombo was 9-of-10, Kunzman was 10-of-12 and Haack was 6-of-7.

Upcoming conference matches for H-M-S (0-5, 0-1) include a trip to West Sioux on Sept. 9 and a home date with Hinton on Sept. 14. The Hawks will also play in a tournament hosted by Sibley-Ocheyedan on Sept. 13.