HURON Long streaks were the name of the game on Thursday as Sioux Falls Lincoln was able to capitalize on more long runs to defeat the Huron Tigers in four sets, 25-22, 25-16, 24-26 and 25-13.
The night started with a Patriot run as a pair of Tiger hitting errors and a pair of kills for Lincoln set the visitors with a 4-1 lead to open things.
Trailing 7-3, Huron went on a run to eventually knot the score at 8-8 behind an Aly Davis block. The Patriots then used strong blocking from sophomore setter Mallory Schneider to add three points to push the lead out to 11-8.
Davis would get a kill and an ace to get within 11-10, but Lincoln then went on a long run with Evlynn Carney serving, eating up both Huron timeouts on a 12-2 run to get to a 23-12 lead.
Huron then leaned hard on Davis big swings and got Lincoln out of system to go on their own long run, using a 9-0 run to get within 23-21. Two plays later, a Huron hitting error, their eighth of the set, gave Lincoln the 25-22 win.
Huron was the one to jump out early in the second set, holding a 4-1 lead after a Davis kill split the defense. However, errors and strong hitting from Hannah Baron allowed Lincoln to knot the score 5-5.
Davis would continue to power the Huron attack, but Camila Lagenfeld came arrive with a a pair of kills to tie the game at 10 and draw a timeout from Huron coach Josh Lien.
The timeout did not stall the Lincoln momentum, however, as Carney and Baron combined with Langenfeld to rattle off six more points, drawing Liens second timeout of the match. The teams traded points from that point forward, but Huron could not overcome that streak. Schneider smacked back a block for the final point of a 25-16 victory in the second.
Huron again jumped out to open the third set, with Davis nailing a crosscourt shot to make it 3-0 Huron. Hitting errors would quickly catch up with the Tigers, and the Patriots tied the score 5-5.
At that point, Addyson Knight recorded a block and started a 6-0 Huron run that drew a Lincoln timeout.
A pair of Baron aces and two kills from Schneider brought Lincoln within 12-11, but they would not have their first lead until Carney nailed a kill to give Lincoln a 17-16 edge.
Huron called a timeout and came out of that timeout firing, as Jencie Goergen nailed a pair of aces. Lincoln responded behind Carneys hitting, and soon, the Patriots were at match point, leading 24-22 after Elsa Basel dropped in a kill.
A pair of hitting errors and a Goergen kill got Huron to set point at 25-24 before Chloe Carr nailed a ball down the middle of the Patriot defense for a 26-24 set victory for the Tigers.
Huron came out hitting strong to open the fourth set, nailing two kills, sailing two strong hits out of bounds, but then getting a block from Arian Pfitzer and a service ace from Davis to open a 4-2 lead.
A Carney ace and a kill from Baron knotted the score, 5-5. With the score knotted 6-6, Lincoln went on a 13-2 run that ate up both Huron timeouts.
The teams exchanged points from that point forward, but Huron had dug a significant hole and a hit sailed long to give Lincoln the 25-13 set win in the fourth and a three-to-one match victory.
Lincoln moves to 10-4 with the win. The Patriots were led by Baron with 11 kills and four service aces. Schneider added 10 kills and an ace. Basel chipped in nine kills.
Carney, Blom and Kok each had a pair of aces.
The Tigers fall to 4-9 despite a big performance from Davis, who finished with 17 kills and a pair of aces. Goergen had three kills and three aces for Huron.
Coach Lien stated that his team did what they wanted to do with the top hitters for Lincoln, but they couldnt make the passes and take advantage the way they needed to for the win.
We made them predictable, and we got what we wanted, but we just couldnt execute in passing from that, Lien said. When we tried to go swing-for-swing, we couldnt match up.
The Patriots swept the JV match by scores of 25-19 and 25-22. Huron swept the sophomore match, 25-21 and 25-15.
Huron travels to Pierre Tuesday, and Lien wants to see his team come off two hard-fought losses to Sioux Falls squads with inspiration to close out the year strong.
Were going to come back in this week and put our best serve receive to the test to work on our passing, explained Lien. We want to gain some confidence heading into next week.
Lien concluded, Weve got a must-win on Tuesday, but we have to get off the bus right. Its a hostile environment, but if our hitters are taking their swings, we should do well.
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