It took the full five games, but Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn was able to claim its first volleyball win of the season. The Hawks defeated visiting Harris-Lake Park in a Homecoming Week match October 4 at Hartley. Game scores for HMS were 25-11, 25-15, 11-25, 22-25 and 15-13.
In the first game the Hawks held leads of 11-5 and 17-10 before securing the 25-21 win. The first HMS advantage in game two came at 7-6. The home team would build a 20-11 lead on the way to taking the game 25-15.
Needing a win in game three, the Wolves held the lead through most of the early going. It grew to 15-7 and later 22-9 as HLP stayed alive 25-11. In the fourth game HMS trailed 9-6 before going on a 9-0 run to take a 15-9 advantage. HLP chipped away at that deficit and finally drew even with the Hawks at 19-19. Endeavoring to close out the match, HMS regained the lead at 22-20 but the Wolves scored the final five points to take the game 25-22.
In the winner-take-all fifth game it was HLP seizing an early 4-2 advantage with the Hawks responding to move in front 6-4. With HMS ahead 8-7, the Wolves went on a mini run to go up 10-8. The teams were tied 10-10 when the Wolves scored twice to move within three points of victory. A clutch 4-0 run brought the Hawks to match point at 14-12. A point by the Wolves only delayed matters as HMS got the winner to take the set 15-13 and the match 3-2.
“The girls executed really well throughout the majority of the match,” commented winning coach Cheryl Kroese. “Game three obviously we had a few adjustments we needed to make but I was proud of the way they came back in game four and competed and hung in there in game five when we were down.”
The coach went on to further praise her team. “Our serving was great,” said Kroese. “Kaley was 22-for-22 with one ace, Abby Kunzman was 15-of-15 with two aces and Elise Haack was 19-of-20 with 3 aces. I was happy with our execution offensively overall. We distributed the ball well. Emily Otto started the game out hot going 8-for-8 with four kills to start the game. Jasmine came alive in the fifth set and drove home five kills. Overall it was a great team effort. These ladies have worked really hard all season and that paid off with a well deserved victory.”

HMS Stats
Kills-Errors-Attempts (Kill Efficiency): Team 29-23-95 (-.098), Kaley Pearson 3-4-19 (-.053), Abby Kunzman 1-1-5 (.000), Emily Mutombo 0-0-1 (.000), Jasmine Lux 12-8-27 (.148), Abby Otto 0-2-3 (-.667), Emily Otto 5-3-15 (.133), Abby Douma 4-4-12 (.000), Elise Haack 4-1-13 (.231).
Assists: Team 27, Pearson 11, Douma 7, Frankie Mohni 3, Kunzman 2, Eliza Tewes, Lux, A. Otto, E. Otto 1.
Digs: Team 55, Pearson 14, Haack 12, Kunzman 10, A. Otto 6, Mohni 5, Mutombo, Douma 3, Lux 2.
Blocks: Pearson 2 solo, 2 assists; Lux, E. Otto, Douma 2 assists.
Serving (Efficiency): Team 86-97 (.887) 11 aces, Pearson 22-22 (1.000) 1 ace, Kunzman 15-15 (1.000) 2 aces, Mutombo 4-6 (.667); A. Otto 15-19 (.789) 1 ace, Mohni 11-15 (.733) 4 aces, Haack 19-20 (.950) 3 aces.