Prep Volleyball: Impressive Showing
It was quite an impressive home opener for head coach Heather Cox and the Harrisburg High School volleyball club Tuesday evening at Davenport Gym.
HHS (3-3) was able to take down county rival Eldorado in straight sets, 25-9, 25-4 in what was the season opener for the Lady Eagles.
"It's really positive and the kids needed it," said Cox. "Going into the conference tournament last week without a regular season game is really tough so it was nice to come home and get a good win, serve well and pass the ball much better."
Junior Matty Hawkins led the Lady Bulldogs with nine kills, teammate Karsyn Davis added six and Bryleigh Buchanan had five kills of her own.
"As long as we can get the pass to the setter where we need it, we've got the kids who can put the ball down on the other side and it's fun to watch them when they can," said Cox.
Senior Sarah Bittle dropped in five aces while classmate Jessica Schwartz accounted for 15 assists.
Eldorado grabbed a brief 3-2 advantage in the first game before HHS went on to score seven of the game's next eight points and never looked back.
In the second game, Harrisburg never trailed after jumping to a 5-1 lead out of the gate.
"We changed our offense up this year, and this was the first time the girls had really gotten a chance to run it against any competition," said EHS coach Lisa Craig. "We just have to learn to quit making unforced errors."
Sophomore Brylie Lenkaitis had one kill for the Lady Eagles.
Eldorado returns to action Wednesday in tournament action at Norris City where other teams include Carmi-White County and Hamilton County.
Harrisburg is idle until next Tuesday when the Lady Bulldogs will welcome Marion.
Harrisburg also won Tuesday's freshman and junior varsity matches in two games.
Carrier Mills-Stonefort wins ppener
The Carrier Mills-Stonefort Lady Wildcats volleyball team opened the season with a two set win, 25-17 and 25-12 over Herrin Agape.
The first set was tied at 15 before the Lady Wildcats went on a 10-2 run to win 25-17.
Senior Katelyn McHugh led the Lady Wildcats with 17 serves for point and 12 hits on the evening. Brianna Pickering added 14 hits with Kelsey Crum picking up 12 serves for point.
"We need a little better focus on our serving, but we passed the ball pretty well after shaking off the first game jitters" Carrier Mills-Stonefort head coach Mike Stone said.
The Lady Wildcats face Johnston City at home Tuesday before traveling to Cobden Thursday. The Lady Wildcats JV team also secured an opening match two set win; 25-8 and 25-15.