Too many weapons

Boyden-Hull flexed its offensive muscles early and forced Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn to play from behind during a Class 2A regional quarterfinal match on Oct. 20. The Comets (2A No. 4) led in every set of their 25-4, 25-19, 25-11 win at Hull to end H-M-S’s season.

The Hawks fell behind by 10 points to start the match and struggled to get into their offense.

“Boyden-Hull did what great teams do in the first set and took advantage of our mistakes,” said Hawk coach Cheryl Kroese.

H-M-S also trailed in the final two sets but was more competitive. That was especially true in the second set when the Hawks rallied from a 12-point deficit to get to within 19-23.

“The girls did a great job of hanging in there and coming back to compete,” Kroese noted. “We started responding better to their offense. We hadn’t probably seen a team that transitioned that quickly and it took us until the second set to figure out how to respond. Once we started getting a touch on the ball, our passing improved.”

The Comets had a 32-5 advantage in kills. Jasmine Lux and Emily Otto each had two for H-M-S. Lux also had two solo blocks.

Kaley Pearson put up three set assists and a team-leading five digs. Abby Kunzman had four digs, and Elise Haack and Abby Otto each had two.

Leading servers were Abby Otto, 8-of-9 with three aces; Pearson, 7-of-7; Kunzman, 6-of-6; Haack, 5-of-5 with an ace; and Frankie Mohni, 3-4.

H-M-S ended its season with a record of 2-17, while Boyden-Hull improved to 26-5 and advanced to the regional semifinal against Central Lyon.