Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn battled Sibley-Ocheyedan through four sets of a Class 2A Region 1 first round tournament game October 17 at Sibley. HMS played well, however the Generals played a little bit better. The Hawks took the third set 26-24 but host team won the other three by identical 25-20 scores to win the match 3-1.
“I was extremely proud of how we came out and battled against Sibley-Ocheyedan,” stated HMS head coach Cheryl Kroese. “When you can record an average of 10 kills a game, put up a total of 21 blocks on the night, (some of these were, of course, double blocks) and serve at 97 percent, it makes you scratch your head and wonder how we possibly lost the match. Give S-O credit, they took everything we dished out and kept battling back. If I were to look at the breakdown of the difference in set three, when we won, vs. the others, I think our kill efficiency at that time was higher and we weren’t making some of the unforced errors that maybe we did in the other sets.”
The Hawks got off to a 4-1 lead in a first set that quickly tightened up. Then it was Sibley-Ocheyedan that broke away to lead by six points on several occasions. HMS cut a 21-15 deficit to 23-20 before the Generals closed out the set. The Hawks carved out a 9-4 advantage in set two. They led 15-11 until S-O came out of a time out to score eight points in a row. HMS fought back to within one at 21-20, but again it was the Generals who finished strong to capture the set.
The third set was knotted a number of times throughout. The Hawks led 20-16 but S-O tied the set at 21-21, 22-22, 23-23 and 24-24. In the end, Kylee Schiphoff contributed a kill and a block to propel the Hawks to the 26-24 win. HMS fell behind 6-2 in set four but rallied to take a 16-15 lead. The Hawk advantage was 17-16 when the Generals ran off four unanswered points to go in front 20-17. HMS got within one at 21-20, but one more time the Generals closed strong to win 25-20 and claim the match.
Abby Kunzman supplied 10 of the Hawks’ 40 kills. Abby Douma added nine and Elise Haack and Schiphoff seven apiece. Frankie Mohni totaled 34 set assists. Douma recorded two solo blocks and three block assists. Schiphoff finished with one solo and four assists. Reaching double figures in digs were Kunzman with 19, Mohni with 18, Haack with 14 and Abigail Otto with 10.
The outstanding serving featured the Hawks missing only two of their 87 serves. Kunzman was 20-for-20, Morgan Grooters 16-for-16 and Haack 15-for-15. Each of the three fired an ace serve. Otto was 12-for-12 with two aces.
HMS finished with a record of 8-17. The Hawks were eighth in the War Eagle Conference with a mark of 3-7. “Looking back on the season, I can’t say enough about how awesome these young ladies were to work with!” said their coach. “From freshman to seniors, this group of girls never complained. They worked hard each and every day in practice and are great kids both on and off the court. They made me so proud of how they were a TEAM. We will definitely have big holes to fill in our senior leadership and experience, but I look forward to continued progress as a program as a whole.” This year’s senior group includes Grooters, Haack, Kunzman, Kayla Kathman and Emily Mutombo.
Kroese reported on an individual award and a team award. “Morgan Grooters is the recipient of the E. Wayne Cooley “You Can” Award,” noted the coach. “The entire team is receiving the ‘Distinguished in Academic Achievement’ Award. In order to qualify for this, the team cumulative GPA must be between 3.25 and 4.0.  Our team GPA was an Outstanding 3.75!”
HMS Stats
Kills-Errors-Attempts (Kill Efficiency): Team 40-31-155 (.058), Elise Haack 7-4-33 (.091), Abby Kunzman 10-4-28 (.214), Emily Mutombo 2-2-7 (.000), Eliza Tewes 4-3-15 (.067), Abby Douma 9-10-33 (-.030), Kylee Schiphoff 7-7-30 (.000), Frankie Mohni 1-0-8 (.125), Abigail Otto 0-1-1 (-1.000).
Assists: Mohni 34, Mutombo 2.
Digs: Team 73, Kunzman 19, Mohni 18, Haack 14, Otto 10, Schiphoff 5, Mutombo 4, Tewes 2, Morgan Grooters 1.
Blocks: Douma 2 solo, 3 assists; Schiphoff 1 solo, 4 assists; Haack 5 assists, Kunzman Mutombo, Tewes 2 assists.
Serving (Efficiency): Team 85-87 (.977) 6 aces, Morgan Grooters 16-16 (1.000) 1 ace, Haack 15-15 (1.000) 1 ace, Kunzman 20-20 (1.000) 1 ace, Mutombo 9-9 (1.000) 1 ace, Schiphoff 2-2 (1.000), Mohni 11-13 (.846), Otto 12-12 (1.000) 2 aces.