The Sioux County Warriors upset the Hay Springs Hawks ahead of Panhandle Conference Volleyball this weekend with a 3-1 showing Friday.
The Hawks were 19-6 on the year headed into the conference matchup, while the Warriors were 8-8.
Still playing with just six girls on the floor due to injury, Sioux County defeated the Hawks 28-26, 23-25, 25-21, 25-18.
The first set was tightly contested, with the Warriors going ahead 10-5 for their largest margin of the set behind kills by Sierra Eastman, Kaylee Juhnke and Ella Hyer, along with a block by Victoria Turbiville. Hay Springs answered with three kills to make it 11-8, but the Warriors maintained a two- or three-point edge with as their hitters continued to terminate. With Kya Binger at the service line, the Hawks chipped away at the lead. Binger landed an ace serve, and the Warriors had several unforced errors to give the Hawks a 23-21 lead.
A kill by Sioux County’s Hyer on set point, followed by a Hawk error tied the game at 24 and sent it into extra points. Each team landed a kill to tie at 25 and then notched errors for the tie at 26. Eastman closed out the set with back-to-back kills.
Set two was another battle with six ties in the first 10 points. Hay Springs pulled ahead 14-10 in part due to two ace serves by Mya Turman. Binger landed another ace to make it 16-12, and three consecutive Hawk kills maintained their advantage at 19-15. The Warriors cut the deficit in half on Hawk errors and pulled within one on consecutive kills by Juhnke. Despite two more kills by Eastman, the Warriors were unable to overtake the Hawks.
Sioux County opened the third set with a 3-0 run that included a Becca Reece kill and an Eastman block. Three consecutive kills by the Hay Springs put the Hawks back in it, and they pressed their advantage to take a 9-4 lead. Sioux County used kills by Turbiville and Hyer, along with a Reece ace to tie the contest at 9 only to fall behind 15-9. Juhnke landed consecutive kills followed by a Turbiville ace serve and kills by Hyer and Eastman to bring the Warriors back within one. A Juhnke ace and Eastman kill put Sioux County on top 19-17 and several errors by the Hawks gave the Warriors the 25-21 victory.
The teams were once again tied six times in the early going of set four. For Sioux County, Britney Klein, Eastman and Hyer all terminated on attacks, while Julia Russell and Alaina Raymer did so for the Hawks. Sioux County maintained a 13-12 advantage and started to pull away with two kills by Eastman and an ace serve by Juhnke. With the score at 19-13 in favor of Sioux County, Turman landed two more kills for the Hawks, and Reece Varvel added another. Brooke Winter also had an ace for Hay Springs. Eastman had one more kill down the stretch, and Reece added another ace for the Warriors, who clinched the victory on Juhnke kill.
Both teams will compete in Hay Springs at Panhandle Conference Tournament Saturday.