Huskies advance from pool play

COLUMBUS JUNCTION - Although they won?t get a pizza party, the Highland Huskies will happily settle for ice cream and a spot in Saturday?s Championship Bracket of the Southeast Iowa Super Conference tournament.

In tournament pool play on Thursday, Highland volleyball head coach Christine Rath said the team had pizza on the line for its fourth-round matchup with top seed Pekin, A win would also have given Highland the top spot in the pool, and despite a first-set victory (22-20) and a late charge in the third set, Highland fell to the Panthers and had to go to the fifth and final round to punch its ticket to Saturday?s championship round.

In a winner-take-all match against Columbus, Highland left no doubt that they should take the runner-up spot in the pool (which also featured Danville and Iowa Mennonite), solidifying a 3-1 record on the night with a 21-14, 21-3 victory.

Highland moves on to the championship round of the tournament at Southeastern Community College on Saturday night.

?I thought we played very well,? Rath said. ?We worked all week on getting in shape and saying that this is going to be all night. I was proud of the way they finished (against Columbus) and our comeback against Pekin. We were going three sets every match tonight and it was nice to finish one in two.?

The Huskies opened the night with a pair of three-set victories over Danville (14-21, 21-11, 15-5) and Iowa Mennonite (16-21, 21-13, 15-12), which senior Briana Davis said required teamwork to get through.

?We worked well together,? Davis said. ?We had been struggling with that, but we really got it together tonight. It?s pretty awesome (to advance). We didn?t know what to expect from this tournament, but we did the best we could. It turned out pretty well.?

In the match against Danville, Highland had a balanced effort led by junior Kelsey Hora?s five kills. Three other Huskies had three kills in the match, as Davis and fellow senior Jenna Dresselhaus each picked up eight assists. Sophomore Sydney Black finished the match converting a team-high 12 serves with two aces.

Against IMS, the Huskies had Black and sophomore Bailey Harmston tie for the team lead in kills with six while Davis and Dresselhaus had four kills each.

Hora led the team with 10 digs in the contest, while Dresselhaus and sophomore Murphy Beinhart recorded two aces apiece.

?I wasn?t sure where we?d be (at the beginning of the year), because our setting was probably our strongest area, but everyone else we had replaced,? Rath said. ?Kelsey Hora came back and has been playing front and back row for us. She?s been amazing and we have girls who are helping her out now. We?ve become a scrappy team.?

The Huskies then ran into Pekin, who defeated them in three sets. Highland was led by Davis? six kills in the match, while Hora had 12 digs and both Dresselhaus and Beinhart went 10-for-10 in serving attempts.

?Pekin is a great team and we know we can play against them now,? Rath said. ?When we get down, we have a hard time getting back up again, and that?s what we ran into with Pekin was getting back up.?

Against Columbus, the Huskies cruised the two-set victory, with Harmston, Davis, Black and freshman Ali Stokes each notching three kills to lead the team, while Davis picked up seven assists.

Highland will face New London in the first match of the championship bracket, with the winner facing Holy Trinity or Cardinal. The tournament will begin at 5 p.m. on Saturday.