VOLLEYBALL

The HU volleyball team didn’t make it easy for #24 Marian to leave Platt Arena with a win but eventually the Knights pulled away for a 3-1 W, 26-24, 25-22, 17-25, 25-8, over their hosts. Today’s win locks MU (25-5, 15-3) into the No. 1 spot in the final league standings.

Huntington (9-24, 5-12) enjoyed a seven-point advantage in set one which included a late lead, kept within striking distance in set two, never trailed after grabbing a 3-2 lead in set three before the Knights ran away with the final set.

“For three sets of volleyball, we executed our game plan to near perfection,” said Shondell. “All we wanted to do was give ourselves a chance at the end of sets, and we did that.”

With one regular season match remaining for the Foresters, a win bumps them into 7th to face 2nd-seeded Saint Francis in the quarterfinals of the Crossroads League tourney while a loss means the 8th spot and a trip to top-seeded Marian on November 3.

Saturday’s clash saw each team log 43 kills. Marian enjoyed a .250 hitting percentage to HU’s .094. They also out-blocked the Foresters 7-1. Huntington enjoyed more than their fair share of service aces by posting 13, the sixth time they’ve tallied double digit aces this season, to MU’s four.

“Both teams served the ball incredibly tough, both teams played great defense, and both teams were really aggressive offensively,” said Shondell. “It was just a matter of one team’s persistence out matching the other.”

Jenna Tacosik finished with five aces in addition to handing out a match-best 22 assists. Breanna Levings claimed 16 assists as the duo split setting responsibilities.

Tailor Schultheis led a balanced Forester attack with ten kills. Brandy Michie added nine while Paige Eakright and Lauren Cresse registered eight kills each. Eakright also established a new career-best in aces with four.

The day was reserved to honor HU’s three seniors, Breanna Levings, Haley Longley and Tailor Schultheis, and Coach Shondell liked their contributions to the afternoon. “All three seniors came ready to play today and each one did things toward making us competitive.”

Huntington’s last regular season match is a home contest against Bethel on Wednesday night at 7:00 p.m.