No. 14 Humboldt sweeps Bulldogs

HAMPTON – With an unbeaten and ranked Humboldt volleyball team coming in, Bulldog head coach Sarah Miller knew exactly what to expect.

And the Bulldogs got it in the form of a 3-0 sweep on Thursday, Sept. 17.

The Wildcats (17-0, 2-0 North Central Conference) used all of their weapons with seven different hitters notching at least two kills against the Bulldogs (2-4, 0-3 NCC) in the 25-11, 25-7, 25-8 final.

“We knew they were going to be tough,” Miller said, “and I told my girls, I tell them all season, that we are all about coming in and improving every day and though the score did not show it, there were many things that we did tonight that we’ve struggled with through the season. We got some blocks up, in the back, Addy Showalter was working her tail off and she was there and had amazing passes and those hard ones are tough.

“The blockers were taking away line like they were supposed to and we were working on all of the little things and getting it all together at one time is tough, but kudos to Humboldt, they are an amazing team and like I told the girls just now, we improve because we play teams like this. We work on the things that we can control, coming in and getting better every day.”

Jaelyn Hickman tallied four kills and though no one was credited with a block for the Bulldogs, an early block by Kortney Dunt and Emma Showalter resulted in a 3-2 lead in the first set. The Bulldogs kept it close in the opener until Lily Groat’s serving helped the Wildcats pull away.

“I feel like, for us, we didn’t come in scared or intimidated tonight,” Miller said. “We were out here to play volleyball and have fun and sometimes when they have so many different weapons, it’s hard to shut them all down. Keep working and improving every day.

“I feel like we were executing right away and doing some good things and building on that and it quickly got taken away from us.”

Addy Showalter finished with 12 digs and was 5-of-6 serving with an ace.

Humboldt’s Jori Hajek had a match-high 13 kills, getting some varied hits, with a roll off the tape and then hammering the ball down, making it difficult for the Bulldog back row to handle.

Miller said she knows where to go from here.

“Our blockers, we’ve got to get some things worked out,” Miller said, “some transitioning off of the net, making sure our hitters are ready to go and just keep improving every day on the things we can control.”

Humboldt 25-25-25

Bulldogs 11-7-8

Kills– Hum (Jori Hajek 13, Emily Zaugg 9, Kendal Clark 5, Lily Groat 3, Deni McDaniel 3, Kaylee Shaner 2, Jayda Hoefer 2); H-D (Jaelyn Hickman 4, Emma Aalbers 2, Elle Westhoff). Blocks– Hum (Groat 2, Zaugg 2, Kailee Dettmann, Hajek, McDaniel, Marissa Kauffman, Hoefer); H-D, None. Assists– Hum (McDaniel 29, Clark 2, Hoefer); H-D (Aja Sheppard 7); Digs– Hum (Clark 12, McDaniel 10, Hajek 9, Groat 6, Hoefer 6, Addie Thompson, Zaugg, Shaner); H-D (Addy Showalter 12, Kortney Dunt 7, Keely Craighton 6, Quinci Spradlin 4, Alana Johnson 4, Hickman, Sheppard, Emma Showalter, Westhoff). Serving– Hum (Hajek 13-13, ace; Clark 2-2; McDaniel 23-25, ace; Zaugg 9-10, 2 aces; Hoefer 7-8, ace; Groat 9-11, ace; Shaner 2-3); H-D (Westhoff 6-6; Hickman 5-5; Sheppard 3-3; A. Showalter 5-6, ace; Spradlin 4-5; Aalbers 2-3, ace).