Lady Indians Split Matches in Hoxie
The Lady Indian volleyball team split their matches in Hoxe on Thursday, September 28. In their first match of the evening, the Lady Indians lost to a good Hoxie team in two close sets, 23-25, 23-25. In their second match, St. Francis earned a three-set win over Dighton, 25-18, 22-25, 25-19. There were no junior varsity matches played by St. Francis. The evening was also Senior Night / Pink Out Night in Hoxie.
The first Hoxie set was highly competitive. Neither team scored a run of more than three consecutive points in the set. St. Francis had one 3-point run; Hoxie earned three. St. Francis earned a 3-2 lead on a Hoxie attack error, but Hoxie answered with a run of three to take a 3-5 lead. The run included a strong kill by Rebekah Castle (Sr.) and an ace serve. A kill by Hanna Bracelin gave the Lady Indians a 7-6 lead. Hoxie's next 3-point run surpassed the points scored on a stuff by Lindsey Johnson and a kil by Emileigh Dinkel. Hoxie's 10-12 advantage triggered the first Lady Indian time-out. Karly Bandel's ace pulled St. Francis within one (13-14), but the ace was answered by Hoxie's third 3-point run. The run included a kill, an ace, and a SF miscue and moved the scoreboard to 13-17. Though a missed serve halted the run, Hoxie followed with a tip-kill by Macy Schamberger (So.) and another ace serve. With the deficit now 14-19, St. Francis used their last time-out to regroup. After the time-out, Lauren Johnson's kill was answered by a strong swing by Schamberger. The margin narrowed to 18-21 on a Hoxie net violation. The next five volleys ended in kills; one each by Emileigh Dinkel and Hanna Bracelin, and three by Hoxie. Trailing 20-24, the Lady Indians earned their first 3-point run of the evening on two Hoxie miscues and an ace by Jessica Confer. The flurry reduced the deficit to 23-24, but a kill by Schamberger closed the match. St. Francis lost set one 23-25.
Set two was much the same. Both teams earned limited runs of three or more points in the set. St. Francis had three runs of three; Hoxie had runs of 4 and 5. Hoxie's superior attack game (recording 11 kills to St. Francis' 4) kept the Lady Indians scrambling defensively. Though the Lady Indians fought valiantly, the superior offense and a few late game miscues resulted in a Hoxie win. Two kills by Rebekah Castle and Brooke Dorenkamp (Sr.) gave Hoxie a 1-3 advantage early. A missed serve helped the St. Francis cause, but another kill by Castle kept the Lady Indians from taking the lead (3-4). The game would become tied 8 times (11 times total for the match) before the Lady Indians forged a 12-11 lead on a Hoxie attack error. Another Castle kill moved the scoreboard to 13-12. The Lady Indians responded with a three-point run resulting from an ace by Karly Bandel and two Hoxie miscues (16-12). The advantage became nill (17-17) after another Castle kill and a Hoxie lift preceded a St. Francis missed serve and three consecutive passing errors by the Lady Indians. The four-point Hoxie run ended on a Hoxie attack error, but was soon followed by two strong kills by Macy Schamberger and a dump-set by Lauren Johnson (19-19). With St. Francis leading 20-19, Hoxie completed a five-point run to take a 20-24 lead. The run included a Schamberger kill as well as three passing errors and a missed serve by the Lady Indians. Back-to-back kills by Jessica Confer narrowed the deficit to 23-24, but a kill by Castle ended the match. St. Francis lost a tough battle to Hoxie, 23-25.
A three-point run ending with a kill by Ella Roberts (5' 10" So.) opened set one of the Dighton match. The run ended on a kill by Emileigh Dinkel, and soon the Lady Indians tied the match at 3. St. Francis took the lead (7-6) on a net violation by the Lady Hornets and extended the margin to two points on an ace by Hanna Bracelin. A 3-point run including another Dinkel kill gave the Lady Indians an 11-7 lead and triggered a Dighton time-out. Returning to the floor, St. Francis missed a service attempt, and soon the advantage was reduced to 11-10. A four-point Dighton run placed St. Francis at a deficit (15-16). The Lady Indians then reeled off an 8-point run to lead 23-16. The run included two kills by Jessica Confer, a kill by Bracelin, a passing error on a strong serve by Karly Bandel, and a joust won at the net by Taighe Weeter. A dump-set by Bracelin and a Dighton passing error on a Weeter attack sealed a 25-18 St. Francis win.
Set two featured two early runs by both teams and then a back-and-forth battle to the conclusion. Five consecutive Lady Indian miscues gave the Lady Hornets a 0-5 advantage before a Dighton attack landed in the net. Jessica Confer followed with a kill. Trailing 2-7, the Lady Indians earned four straight points on a kill by Lindsey Johnson, a Dighton net violation, and two kills by Confer to pull within one (6-7). A 4-point Dighton run ending with an ace placed the Lady Indians at a 9-12 deficit. A kill by Lauren Johnson ended the run. St. Francis then earned 5 points getting help from 4 miscues by the Lady Hornets and a kill by Lauren Johnson to take a 15-13 advantage. The teams battled back-and-forth with most of the points coming on opponent errors until Dighton finally took the lead 18-19 on a St. Francis passing error. Though the set would be tied three more times before its conclusion and St. Francis was aided by two missed serves by the Lady Hornets, the game ended on consecutive kills by Ella Roberts. Dighton won set two 22-25.
The deciding set opened with an aggressive kill by Ella Roberts. Consecutive kills by Lindsey Johnson tied the set at 2-2 before Dighton scored two three-point runs to take a 3-8 advantage. Taking advantage of some strong serves by Karly Bandel, the Lady Indians earned a 6-point run on four Dighton errors and two kills by Hanna Bracelin to lead 9-8. The Lady Indians would not trail again. Following a tying kill by Mallory McDowell for the Lady Hornets, St. Francis clicked off 5 straight points to lead 14-9. The outburst featured a kill and ace by Jessica Confer and caused Dighton to use a time-out. Dighton narrowed the margin to 16-13 on a Roberts tip, but St. Francis answered with a 3-point run on consecutive Lady Hornet errors to take a 19-13 lead. The next St. Francis run, four points in length, moved the score to 23-15. The run included an ace by Emileigh Dinkel and a kill by Confer. The game ended on a final kill by Confer. St. Francis had earned a 25-19 win in the deciding set.
The Lady Indians will compete in the Oberlin Invitational Round Robin Tournament on Saturday, September 30. The Lady Indians will host Greeley County on Monday, October 2, in St. Francis.
Click on the photos to see more photos!
