The Hemingford Bobcats won the Sioux County Triangular Saturday with victories over Sioux County and Crawford.
Sioux County and Crawford each took a set away from Hemingford to force the games to three, but the Bobcats prevailed.
The Sioux County Warriors won the opening set over the Bobcats 25-8 before dropping the final two, 21-25, 17-25. The Warriors led from the first point as the triangular began and capitalized on eight Bobcat errors in the set and landed seven attacking kills and four free ball kills. Sioux County tied the Bobcats four times in the second set, but they couldn’t sustain the momentum to take the lead. Both teams posted 14 errors in the set, but the Bobcats benefited from a more productive attacking game and three ace serves. Aside from two ties in the first five points of the third set, Hemingford led the final contest in its entirety. The Warriors were able to dig out of a 13-point deficit behind six Hemingford attacking errors, but the Bobcats were able to close out the game with a tip, followed by a Sioux County error on a tip.
Hemingford used the momentum from the win to defeat Crawford 25-15, 19-25 and 25-15. Crawford led twice in the first set, but the Bobcats went ahead 10-9 and used two ace serves and a kill to press their advantage to 13-10. Three more kills and three consecutive aces helped Hemingford to a 20-12 lead and they rolled to the 25-15 finish. The Bobcats opened the second set with a 4-3 edge before Crawford moved ahead 5-4. A string of Hemingford errors gave the Rams a cushion, and they led by two to six points the remainder of the set. Things swung back in the Bobcats’ favor in the third as they breezed to a 15-6 lead and closed out the game with another 25-15 win.
The final game of the day between Sioux County and Crawford went in favor of the Warriors, 25-17, 25-14. The teams knotted the score five times in the first 10 set points and traded the lead three times. Eight Crawford errors, and two Warrior kills and two aces helped Sioux County to the win. The Warriors rolled to a quick 17-4 lead in the second set, and six kills and two aces after that point lifted Sioux County to the victory.