To keep its season alive, Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn was faced with the challenge of taking down number four rated Boyden-Hull on the Comets’ home floor. After a 25-4 win in set one, the Comets appeared ready to blow the visitors out of the gym but HMS adjusted. The Hawks battled Boyden-Hull throughout a 25-19 second set won by the hosts. The Comets finally closed out the Hawks 25-11 to win the Class 2 Region 1 quarterfinal 3-0. HMS ends the season with a record of 2-17.
“Boyden-Hull did what great teams do in the first set of the night and took advantage of our mistakes,” noted Hawk head coach Cheryl Kroese. “The girls did a great job of hanging in there and coming back to compete in set two and three. 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.”
Despite the improvement, HMS was limited to a total of just five kills on 50 attacks. Jasmine Lux and Emily Otto each had two of those kills with the other coming from Kaley Pearson. The latter supplied three of the set assists while Abby Douma and Frankie Mohni each had one.
Lux recorded a pair of solo blocks. The Hawks managed 15 digs with Pearson getting five and Abby Kunzman four.
Pearson (7-of-7), Kunzman (6-of-6) and Elise Haack were successful on each of their serves. Abby Otto served 8-of-9 with three ace serves.
Kroese was hoping for more tangible success for her team, which had incorporated a number of less experienced players into the mix this season. “As a whole on the season we obviously would have liked more marks in the W column,” said the coach. “I’m proud of the girls for continuing to work hard throughout season and getting the win in postseason.”
With this match, seniors Jasmine Lux, Emily Otto and Kaley Pearson concluded their time with the HMS volleyball program. “Our three seniors have done a great job of being leaders!” Kroese stated. “All three played outstanding at Sioux Rapids on Monday night. We wish them the best in their futures and they will definitely be missed!”

HMS Stats

Kills-Errors-Attempts (Kill Efficiency): Team 5-15-50 (-.200), Kaley Pearson 1-2-5 (-.200), Abby Kunzman 0-1-3 (-.333), Emily Mutombo 0-0-2 (.000), Jasmine Lux 2-2-11 (.000), Abby Otto 0-0-1 (.000), Emily Otto 2-4-10 (-.200), Abby Douma 0-3-7 (-.429), Frankie Mohni 0-0-1 (.000), Elise Haack 0-3-10 (-.300).
Assists: Pearson 3, Douma, Mohni 1.
Digs: Team 15, Pearson 5, Kunzman 4, Haack, A. Otto 2, Mutombo, Mohni 1.
Blocks: Lux 2 solo.
Serving (Efficiency): Team 31-35 (.886) 4 aces, Pearson 7-7 (1.000), Kunzman 6-6 (1.000), Mutombo 2-4 (.500), A. Otto 8-9 (.889) 3 aces, Mohni 3-4 (.750), Haack 5-5 (1.000) 1 ace.