Third-set marathons

Marathon third-set wins last week gave Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn momentum in one volleyball match and prevented being swept in another.

The Hawks won the third set at West Sioux, 28-26, to set up a 3-1 win on Sept. 7. It was their first War Eagle Conference match victory of the season.

H-M-S had a 51-30 advantage in kills, led by Abby Douma with 20, Moriah Otto with 11 and Kylee Schiphoff with 10. Frankie Mohni added six kills while contributing 40 set assists.

The Hawks also had a big advantage at the serving line, with 26 more successful serves and a 94.1 percent serving efficiency. Individual serving totals included Eliza Tewes 22-of-22, Schiphoff 24-of-25 with three aces, Mohni 14-of-15, Moriah Otto 14-of-16, Kinsey Schirmer 12-of-14 and Abigail Otto 6-6.

H-M-S won the first set, 25-17, but West Sioux came back to win the second, 26-24. After the Hawks prevailed in the lengthy third set, they dominated the finale, 25-7, to complete the 3-1 victory.

Contributing on defense were Tewes with 14 digs, Schirmer with eight, Mohni with seven, Abigail Otto and Addison Sheeler with six, and Moriah Otto and Schiphoff with four. Moriah Otto had two solo blocks, and Mohni and Schiphoff each had a solo block and an assist.

• vs. Trinity Christian

A narrow third-set win kept H-M-S alive against Trinity Christian, but it was not enough to prevent a 3-1 loss.

The first two sets of the Sept. 5 match at Hull were tightly contested, but Trinity Christian put together late runs to pull away for 25-17 and 25-21 wins.

H-M-S overcame an early deficit in the third set to force a 15-15 tie and rallied to take a 20-18 lead. Although they never trailed again, the Hawks had to battle through three ties before emerging with a 26-24 win.

The Tigers regained the momentum in the final set. H-M-S stayed close but could not get any closer than 23-21.

Douma and Schiphoff led H-M-S at the net with 13 and 12 kills, respectively. Moriah Otto added three.

Mohni recorded 27 set assists, and was credited with one solo block and three assists. Schiphoff had one solo block and two assists, and Douma added two assists.

Leaders in digs were Mohni with 11, Abigail Otto with 10, Tewes with nine, and Moriah Otto, Schiphoff and Schirmer with six each.

H-M-S had a good night serving. Schiphoff was 22-of-22 with three aces, Mohni was 14-of-14, Moriah Otto was 13-of-13 and Schirmer was 14-of-15.

H-M-S (2-4, 1-2) plays in the GT/RA tournament at Graettinger on Sept. 16 and at Remsen St. Mary's (1A No. 14) on Sept. 21.