VOLLEYBALL

The season came to a close Saturday afternoon for the Huntington volleyball team as they suffered a three-set loss, 25-14, 25-15, 25-19, to Saint Francis in first round action of the Crossroads League tournament.

The Foresters entered as the 7th-seed and didn’t have an answer for the 2nd-seeded Cougars who swept their visitors for the third time this season.

“We had a great game plan, but as good teams do, Saint Francis made execution very difficult,” said Shondell. “They are one of the best offensive teams in our league this year and we weren’t much of a match defensively.”

USF connected on 41.2 percent of their hits for 41 kills and hit into HU’s block just once. Four Cougars tallied at least seven kills each to make for a well-balanced attack.

For Huntington, Brandy Michie finished with eight kills to pace Shondell’s crew. Lauren Cresse added seven. Jenna Tacosik ran the offense with 22 assists. Ariene Butler tallied 12 digs to spearhead HU’s defense.

“Numbers might not show it, but I thought Jenna did a really good job of mixing up our attack and giving people opportunities to score,” noted Shondell.

HU wraps up the year with an overall record of 10-25.

“It’s a rough way to end a season, but this program took giant leaps forward this season; whether it looks like it on paper or not.”