Serving O'Brien & Clay Counties
Serving O'Brien & Clay Counties
Big runs help H-M-S claim 5-set win over Generals
Frankie Mohni avoids the net while passing the volleyball to a teammate. She had 27 set assists in the win over the Generals.
Libero Abigail Otto directs the ball toward the net in action against Sibley-Ocheyedan.
The volleyball match between Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn and Sibley-Ocheyedan featured its share of ups and downs. Ultimately, H-M-S finished on top, 3-2, on Sept. 11 in Hartley. Set scores were 25-13, 14-25, 25-21, 15-25 and 15-7.
"It definitely was a roller coaster – one of those matches which was dominated by the big run," said Hawk coach Cheryl Kroese.
Sparked by the serving of Eliza Tewes and Kylee Schiphoff, as well as the hitting of Abby Douma and Moriah Otto, H-M-S dominated the first set. The Generals quickly answered, breaking a 10-10 tie in the second set with a short scoring run and following it with another to tie the match.
"I wasn't expecting the back-and-forth after set 1 as I felt we dominated that set," Kroese observed.
S-O built a 21-17 advantage in the third set, but H-M-S scored the final eight points to earn the win. Momentum swung back to the Generals, who began the fourth set with an 11-1 lead. H-M-S cut the deficit to four but S-O would prevail to force the tie-breaker.
According to Kroese, the coin toss prior to the final set played a definite role in the outcome.
"I was a little shocked as we did the coin toss. S-O actually won the toss and they chose to serve receive. You just don't see that happen," she noted. "That led to us getting a 5-0 run to set the tone for the set."
Frankie Mohni's serving sparked the early run. After S-O cut the margin to 6-5, H-M-S went on another run to finish off the set and the match.
"Once Kylee stepped back to serve it was a repeat of West Sioux where she took over with a few aces, and we topped it off with some kills from Abby and Moriah," Kroese said.
In serving, Schiphoff was 22-of-24 with four aces, Kinsey Schirmer was 25-of-26 with two aces, Moriah Otto was 13-of-13, Tewes was 15-of-16 and Mohni was 7-of-8.
Douma and Schiphoff each put down 13 kills, and Moriah Otto and Tewes each had five. Mohni recorded 27 set assists.
On defense, Abigail Otto had 16 digs and Mohni had 10, and Schirmer, Schiphoff and Tewes had seven.
• Drop 2-of-3 at GT/RA tourney
H-M-S finished 1-2 at a tournament hosted by Graettinger-Terril/Ruthven-Ayrshire on Sept. 16.
The Hawks' win came against Harris-Lake Park (18-21, 21-16, 15-10). The losses were to West Bend-Mallard (18-21, 24-22, 12-15) and GT/RA (8-21, 15-21).
For the tournament, H-M-S was led at the net by Schiphoff with 20 kills, Douma with 11, Moriah Otto with seven and Tewes with six. Mohni put up 38 of H-M-S's 42 set assists.
Schiphoff added four solo blocks and Douma had two. Leaders in digs were Abigail Otto 29, Tewes 19, Mohni 18, Moriah Otto 15 and Schirmer 14.
Individual serving totals for the tournament were Schirmer 24-of-26, Mohni 21-of-23, Tewes 21-of-24, Schiphoff 20-of-23, Abigail Otto 17-of-19 and Moriah Otto 16-of-18. Tewes finished with four aces.
The Hawks (4-6, 1-2) play at Remsen St. Mary's (1A No. 11) on Sept. 21 and host George-Little Rock on Sept. 26. Teams at the H-M-S tournament on Sept. 23 include Gehlen Catholic, Newell-Fonda, Okoboji, Rock Valley, Sioux City West, South O'Brien and Trinity Christian. Pool play in both high school gyms begins at 9 a.m.
