Huskies take second, advance in SEISC volleyball pool play

The Southeast Iowa Super Conference held its annual volleyball tournament pool play on Thursday, with WACO being the host site for a pair of area teams.

Highland traveled to join the host Warriors in the five-team pool-play event, which sent the top two teams on to the finals on Saturday.

The Huskies, who entered the tournament as the No. 2 seed, nearly claimed the top spot on the night, but fell just short of upsetting top seed Wapello in their match, finishing the night at 3-1, which was good enough to send them to Saturday?s tournament.

?I thought we played well. I was hoping we could get Wapello, and we were really competitive with them,? Highland head coach Christine Rath said. ?We both got tired, and we were able to dig them a little better. We had our chances, but we were hoping to get first.?

The Huskies were 2-0 on the night, riding a 10-match win streak, before the match with Wapello, and took the first set with the Arrows 23-21.

The Arrows responded with a 21-14 victory in the second set, before claiming a 15-11 victory in the decisive third set to claim the match.

The Huskies rebounded in the final match of the night, with a straight-set sweep of Louisa-Muscatine to finish the night 3-1, and now have won 11 of their last 12 matches.

?I think we are doing well (with our confidence),? Rath said. ?Some of the teams we?ve faced aren?t as hard-hitting as much as they are scrappy. We are more of a hard-hitting team and becoming scrappy, so overall, that?s what we are excited about this year.?

The Huskies also picked up straight-set victories over Van Buren and WACO on the night.

The second-place finish in the pool advances Highland to the tournament at Southeast Community College on Saturday, where they are paired up with New London in the first round.

?I?d love to get past the first round,? Rath said. ?We?ve gone there and played crappy, but this year we want to go there and play well.?

WACO finished in third place at the tournament, falling to Highland to open the night, before picking up wins over Van Buren and Louisa-Muscatine.

Against Wapello, the Warriors were fighting to be in contention for the second spot, and put together a rally in the second set, as they looked to force a third.

The late run was cut short as WACO fell 21-19 in the second set, ending their night at 2-2.