The Patriots found themselves struggling at times on Tuesday night in Faulkton, but kept there composure and picked up a four set victory against the Trojans. All night the Patriots struggled to serve as there was 12 missed serves on the night.
In set one, the Patriots came out blazing as the Patriots built a 6-0 lead behind the serving of Ella Johnson. For the most part the ladies maintained that lead throughout the first set and claimed the first set by a score of 25-18.
Set two, saw the Patriots down most of the set as the ladies struggled with errors from the service line, hitting line, and passing. The Patriots tried to make a run at the end, but could not over come all the errors that piled up and they eventually dropped set two by a score of 20-25.
The Patriots were looking to regroup in set three as they once again built a 9 point lead before Faulkton used a time out. The ladies were not going to be denied as they finished off set three by a score of 25-17.
Set four was all the Patriots as the ladies used a variety of hard hits to wear down the Faulkton squad. The Patriots built a four point lead as Faulkton called their first time out. The Patriots kept building the lead as the Trojans called their second time out with the Patriots leading by 7. The ladies would eventually finish off the Trojans in set four 25-13 and winning the match 3-1.
Even though the Patriots struggled with their errors from the serving and hitting lines, there were plenty of hard hits from numerous players throughout the night. Katelyn Schroeder led the team in hitting going 33-34 with 21 kills and hitting a .588 in the contest. Rebecca Huizenga had some great hits and tallied 8 kills on the night. Cora Hofer, Ella and Lila Johnson each recorded 5 kills. Lila Johnson recorded 21 assists in the contest and Gracyn Bixler tallied 14.
Serving was a struggle at times throughout the night as the team only served 85.7%, but recorded 11 aces to offset the errors. Ella Johnson recorded 5 aces and Lila Johnson recorded 3 aces.
Defensively, the block was very effective as Isabel Gilbert recorded 4 block assists and a block solo to lead the team. Schroeder would add 22 digs in the contest with Cambree Hoekman getting 12.
The Patriots (6-0) are right back in action on Thursday night as they host the Wolsey-Wessington Warbirds in a huge 281 Conference match. Match time is set for 5:15 in Tulare with the Jr. High starting followed by JV and Varsity. We would like to see a large crowd to help cheer the Patriots to a victory!