Cyclones defeat Trojans on Senior Night
For the first time since Sept. 9, the HCHS volleyball team is back in the win column snapping a 9-game losing streak beating the Atlantic Trojans Thursday night in three straight sets, after dropping set one.
“It feels good, especially towards the end of the season,” said Senior Aubrey Schwieso. “We kind of had a rough stretch there, but we played some really good volleyball Tuesday, so we kind of used that momentum to play in here today, and I was really proud of that.”
Prior to the game, Schwieso and Macy Mueller were honored for senior night.
“Aubrey and I are the only two seniors left, and I feel like we’ve put a lot of work into this team,” Mueller said. “There are a lot of underclassmen that are playing and we’ve grown a really strong bond with them that I really value so much and it’s going to be really hard leaving this team, but I’m so happy that we could perform tonight and do really well.”
Set one began with Junior Hope Preston coming up with a kill to give the Cyclones a 1-0 lead. Following Preston’s kill, both teams got locked into a back-and-forth affair with the Trojans leading a majority of the way. The Cyclones managed to tie the game at 23, but lost set one 26-24 when Trojan Senior Paytn Harter came up with a kill that landed in the backcourt, giving the Trojans a 1-0 series lead.
“I think we just were not playing our game,” said Cyclone Head Coach Elle Crees. “We were letting them slow us down. We were getting caught in the wrong position and not communicating. Once we figured that out in sets two and three, we were able to pull it out.”
In set two, the Trojans struck first when the ball deflected off Preston in the backcourt putting them up 1-0. The Cyclones managed to turn the tables on the Trojans when they got contributions in the backcourt with Juniors Carly Torneten and Ellerie Nelson coming up with multiple digs.
“It’s all about effort that we give back there,” Mueller said. “Defense is one of the most important things in volleyball. We can’t play if we don’t have a path, so I feel like giving effort is one of the things that we’re really good at and when we give that, we can really perform back there.”
The set ended when Sophomore Kenzley Bruck jumped up at the net spiking the ball, as it deflected out of bounds giving them a 25-22 set victory. In set three, Mueller got the Cyclones off on the right foot when she served the ball, watching it graze the net as Sophomore Trojan Jillian Saathoff and landing in open territory to put her team up 1-0.
The Cyclones were once again in a neck-and-neck battle with the Trojans at one point leading 20-17 when Crees called a timeout. Following the timeout, the Cyclones went on a 5-2 run with the match point coming on a ball that Junior Trojan Claire Schroder hit out of bounds winning the set 25-19.
Set four opened with back-to-back shots getting hit out of bounds by Saathoff and Junior Lila Wiederstein giving the Cyclones an early 2-0 lead. The Cyclones began to run away with the set and easily won 25-16 when Cyclone Sophomore Aubree Wegner spiked the ball right over the front of the net where it landed in open territory giving the Cyclones their ninth win of the season.
“It’s really nice, and it’s even better to win on Senior Night,” Mueller said. “These past couple of years we’ve played really tough teams like Kuemper Catholic, and I’m just really happy we could pull off the win.”
The Cyclones will return to action Tuesday at 4:30 p.m. for a Triangular against the 9-18 St. Albert Saintes and 25-5 Glenwood Rams at St. Albert High School.
The Saintes are led by Junior Molly Wise with 401 assists, Sophomore Naomi Sherrill with 170 kills, Sophomore Alexa Lenz with 28 blocks, and Junior Grace Christensen with 284 digs and 16 serve aces. The Rams are led by Seniors Allison Koontz with 475 assists, Charley Hernandez with 264 kills, Ilsa Kemling with 50 blocks, Juniors Rylie Kendall with 232 digs, and Karlee Wray with 36 serve aces.
“We just know towards the end of the season we need to play really good volleyball,” Schwieso said. “We’ve already beat St. Albert once, so I think that gives us a little bit of confidence going in to play them. We’ve played Glenwood a bunch in some tournaments. We know they’re a very solid team, so it’s going to take a lot to beat them, but we’ll be ready for it, and we know what’s on the line.”
