Hays/Lodge Pole Looks to Finish Strong

 

October 12, 2022

The Hays Lodge Pole Volleyball team was home this past Thursday to take on the Highwood Mountaineers in a double header.

Highwood sits atop the district 7C standings with a 9-1 conference mark to start the week. The Thunderbirds have found the win column just once this season, but they have made teams work for nearly every point.

In the first set of the opening match Highwood jumped out to a 12-2 led early and never looked back, cruising to 25-11 first set win. Set number two was nearly identical, again jumping out to a big lead early on to win set number two by the same 25-11 margin. Highwood had all the momentum on their side, but the Thunderbirds found some rhythm at times and began to string together some quality volleys. In the end the Mountaineers closed out the Thunderbirds with a 25-26 third set win to win the opening match 3-0.

In match number two the Thunderbirds started slow right out of the gate. While they did have moments of good play, they were never able to get anything going and dropped the opening set of match two 25-6.

The Thunderbirds did begin to find a good rhythm in sets two and three and really began to give the Mountaineers fits. Hays/Lodge Pole began to extend rallies with solid play from the back row and swing much better in the front row.

The Thunderbirds were much more effective with their attack and on defense but in the end the experience of the Mountaineers was too much to overcome. Hays/Lodge Pole lost set number two 25-17 and set number three 25-18 to fall in the match 3-0.

Friday night the Thunderbirds were in Box Elder to take on the Bears. Hays/Lodge Pole opened their season at home against the Bears the first weekend of their season. This go around was much better as Box Elder had a much more experienced team take the court than the one Hays/Lodge Pole had faced previously.

Hays/Lodge Pole led early on in the first set 3-1, but Box Elder soon evened the match at 3-3. The two teams were even on the scoreboard six times early but eventually Box Elder began to open up a lead. The Bears maintained their attack and took the opening set 25-16.

In the second set the Thunderbirds again struggled early on and found themselves in a big hole from the start. Trailing 9-3 Hays/Lodge Pole could never close the gap and dropped set number two 25-11. The third set saw the Bears continue to build on their momentum, never allowing Hays/Lodge Pole to score three consecutive point. Box Elder took the third set 25-12 to complete the sweep and even the season series between the two teams.

The Thunderbirds will welcome the Chester/Joplin-Inverness Hawks to town on Thursday and then host the Chinook Sugarbeeter to the Thunderdome on Tuesday as they close out the District 7C regular season.

 
 

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