Lady Indians Lose Two in Hoxie
JV Teams Win Both
The Lady Indians volleyball team traveled to Hoxie on Thursday afternoon, September 29, to compete with Hoxie and Dighton. The varsity Lady Indians played competitively, but lost both matches during the competition. St. Francis defeated Hoxie in the first game of the match 25-11, but Hoxie rallied to win the last two sets 13-25 and 17-25. Dighton defeated the varsity Lady Indians in two sets, 18-25, 16-25.
The junior varsity girls won both of their matches in well-played contests. St. Francis defeated Hoxie 15-25, 25-16, 15-6. The Lady Indians also defeated Dighton 25-15, 25-20.
In varsity action against Hoxie, St. Francis played well and took advantage of numerous attack errors by the home-standing Lady Indians to earn a first set victory. St. Francis had five scoring runs of three-or-more points in route to the win. Hoxie only generated one three-point run in the set. St. Francis took an early 4-1 lead capitalizing on three hitting errors and a net violation by Hoxie. A kill by Zoe Sundstrom and two more attack errors by Hoxie placed St. Francis at a 7-2 advantage and triggered a Hoxie time-out. The spread remained at five points until a Hoxie missed serve started a four-point Lady Indian run that increased the margin to 14-5. Lindsey Johnson earned a nice stuff during the run and a tip-kill that moved the scoreboard to 15-6. Hoxie then earned consecutive kills in a three-point run narrowing the score to 15-9. It was as close as they would get, as the Lady Indians soon reeled off two runs of four points each to lead 23-10. Katie Schmid had two strong kills in the final run. A Hoxie passing error on an aggressive serve by Madi Tice, another Schmid kill, and a final Hoxie attack error gave the Lady Indians a 25-11 win in game one.
Roles revered in set two. Hoxie's play was much crisper, while the Lady Indians began making more errors in play and judgment. Lindsey Johnson's kill gave St. Francis a 2-1 lead, but it would be that last advantage the Lady Indians would hold. St. Francis trailed 3-8 after giving up three aces and two aggressive kills by Hoxie. After a St. Francis time-out, the Lady Indians earned their only three-point run of the contest on tip-kills by Hanna Bracelin and Katie Schmid and a Hoxie error. Hoxie soon earned three three-point runs, mostly coming on Lady Indian miscues, to lead 9-18. Hoxie gifted the Lady Indians' final two points on missed serves, but the Lady Indians did not execute well enough to score offensively again. St. Francis lost game two 13-25.
Set three was close until the final third of the game. An ace by Madi Tice and a dump-set by Lauren Johnson helped give St. Francis a 3-1 lead. An ace by Hoxie's Erin Carter tied the match at 3-all, but St. Francis answered with a deep-tip kill by Lauren Johnson to regain a 5-3 lead. A five-point Hoxie run soon placed Hoxie at a 6-9 advantage. Jessica Confer's kill (off a block) stopped the run and was followed by a Schmid kill closing the margin to 8-9. A SF passing error ended a long volley with Hoxie earning a 10-13 advantage on the play. St. Francis answered with an over-pass kill by Lindsey Johnson, a strong spike by Zoe Sundstrom, and an excellent serve by Tice leading to a Hoxie passing error. The Lady Indians had earned a 13-all tie. A missed serve, a setting error, and a passing error gave Hoxie another three-point run before Hoxie missed a serve aiding the Lady Indians. A Hoxie kill again established a 3-point deficit (14-17), but St. Francis earned three-consecutive points winning two long volleys, the final one ending on a kill by Confer (17-17). The Lady Indian rally triggered a Hoxie time-out. After returning to the floor, Hoxie reeled off eight straight points, most coming on SF passing errors, to win 17-25. The Lady Indians had played very well and times, but lost the deciding set to Hoxie.
In the first set against Dighton, action was close, but Dighton earned four runs of 3 or 4 points in the game while the Lady Indians could not earn a three-point run against the Lady Hornets. Kills by Dighton's Sara Cramer and Jordan Speer, and a stuff-block by Ella Roberts, gave Dighton an early 1-4 lead and established a tone for the contest. A kill by Jessica Confer was followed by a Dighton passing error to tie the game at 5-all. Another Cramer kill eventually moved the score to 7-10. A ace and kill by Lauren Johnson closed the deficit to 10-11, but then Dighton reeled off four unanswered points; all coming on SF passing and setting errors (10-15). Dighton's missed serve stopped the run, but the Lady Hornets then scored three more back-to-back points to lead 12-18. Scores by Lindsey Johnson narrowed the margin to four twice (16-20 on a kill and 18-22 on a stuff), but the Lady Indians would not catch the Lady Hornets. St. Francis lost set one by a score of 18-25.
Though Jordan Speer (2) and Sara Cramer each earned kills early in game two, the Lady Indians held pace and were tied a 5-all before the Lady Hornets had their first extended scoring run. A Dighton 6-point run including three kills (plus 2 SF setting errors and 1 attack error), gave the Lady Hornets a comfortable 5-11 lead. Consecutive kills by Katie Schmid and Zoe Sundstrom trimmed the margin a bit (7-11), but kills by Roberts and Speers and a SF service error returned the deficit to 9-14. An ace by Sundstrom and kill by Schmid again trimmed the margin to 12-14, but another five-point run by Dighton stretched the deficit to 12-19. Two more three-point runs by the Lady Hornets eventually completed the contest at 16-25.
St. Francis will compete in the Oberlin Invitational Tournament on Saturday, October 1st, in Oberlin.
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