VOLLEYBALL

The Huntington volleyball team started out great guns against #RV Marian Saturday afternoon before a shift in momentum favored the hosts in a four-set decision, 21-25, 25-12, 25-14, 25-12, that ended in the Knights’ snagging their 12th straight win.

The loss is HU’s first in three outings as they drop to 6-11 overall, 3-6 in league play. With this win, Marian (15-3) jumps ahead of Saint Francis for the top spot in the league standings with a CL record of 8-1.

The Foresters posted 17 kills in the opening set, more than the number of HU kills in sets two and three combined, to go along with a remarkable .308 hitting percentage for a hot start to the day.

However, the Knights were quick to regroup and add Huntington to their list of recent victims by cruising to wins in the next three sets for the W. Marian hasn’t lost since August 29 with nine of their 15 wins decided in three sets.

“Again, I loved the way we started the match,” said Shondell. “We were fearless and really efficient both offensively and defensively. But Marian is a very balanced team and they are designed to frustrate you; they want to take away what you want to do.

“Over the course of the match, we let their strengths overpower our ability to control the game.”

Offense was a shared task for Shondell’s crew with Paige Eakright leading the way with ten kills. Lanie McClanahan and Tailor Schultheis added nine and eight kills respectively.

Ariene Butler topped the Foresters in digs with 18 while Eakright finished with 16. Jenna Tacosik dished out 25 dimes and registered seven digs.

Today’s match wraps up first round of conference play. The Foresters are back in action to host #16 Saint Francis on Wednesday at 7:00 p.m.

Shondell remains hopeful about what’s to come. “In what was a rough first half schedule for our young team, I’m still really proud of how much growth they’ve shown to this point.

“Going into the second half of conference play with six of our last nine matches at home, we know we have opportunities to get ourselves where we want to be.”