Fairfield goes 1-2 at home quad

FAIRFIELD - The 2019 high school volleyball season opened on Thursday night for both No. 13 Fairfield and Hilcrest Academy in the Trojans' home quadrangular.

The hosting Trojans went 1-2 on the night, defeating Hilcrest and falling to both Albia and Eddyville-Blakesburg-Fremont. The Ravens were 0-3 in the debut of their new mascot.

Albia won the quad, going 3-0 and not losing a single set on the day. EBF finished 2-1.

The Trojans started their day off against Albia. The Blue Demons had already played - and won - four games on the season coming into the day and they showed to be razor sharp against the hosts.

Albia got off to a strong start, leading 12-8 at the first timeout. The two teams traded punches until the second timeout, at 21-19 Albia. Fairfield stuck close and was dow just 24-22 late, but Albia's Alex Beard tapped a ball over the net to take set one for the Blue Demons.

Fairfield erupted out of the gate in set two. The Trojans led 8-3 early on, but the Blue Demons eventually clawed back to tie it at 10-10.

Albia was able to get the lead midway through the game, and held on to the advantage until the final point, where they won 25-21 to sweep the Trojans.

Fairfield's next bout was with EBF. The first set was back-and-forth until the final few points of the match. The Trojans and Rockets were all tied up at 18-18 when the final timeout of the set.

EBF would go on to win seven of the next eight points to take set two 25-19.

Fairfield came out slow in the second set, letting EBF get on top 5-0. Fairfield would battle back, however, and set it up for a good finish when timeout was called at 22-20 EBF.

The Rockets were able to pull away at the very end yet again. EBF scored the final three points after the timeout and the Trojans were 0-2 on the day.

Fairfield got one back right at the end, taking down Hilcrest. Fairfield won both sets against the Ravens 25-15. Hilcrest played well early in the second set, tying the game at 6-6 at one point, but the hosts were too much in game three.

'This was definitely our first time out of the gate,” said Trojan head coach Diana Drish. 'I told the girls, we played really well and we played really tight. For our first time out of the gate, we just have some things we need to tweak and get better at. That's why we're here, is to get better.”

Fairfield was led in kills by Olivia Jones, who tallied 13 on the day. Grace Stever had nine kills and sprinkled in two aces on the serve.

Olivia McClaran led the way for the Trojan back line with 15 digs on the day. Allison Rebling had 14 and Stever had 10.

Lily Hoskins finished the day with 23 assists. Jones and Mallory Lyon co-led the team with six blocks each.

Hilcrest began the day against EBF. The Rockets started out strong in set one, taking it 25-12. Hilcrest played much better in set two, but still dropped it 25-17.

The Ravens hung tough with Albia in the first set of their second game, even leading 14-13 at one point. The Blue Demons ould rally back to win it 25-19, and then dominated set two 25-4.

'I thought my kids played with a lot of effort, and good energy and heart,” Hilcrest head coach Tanna Boshart said. 'We are a very inexperienced team this year. We graduated girls who played a ton of minutes and played huge roles, so almost everybody is in a new position. One thing for us is, everybody made their first varsity match.”

Fairfield starts the season 1-2. They'll host Ft. Madison on Tuesday, Sept. 3 in a battle of defending co-champions. Hilcrest (0-3) will travel to Lone Tree on Thursday, Sept. 5.