HURON — The Huron Tigers got eight kills from Mikena Moore and Emily Dale, seven each from Alaina Dale and Libby Rounds and a little bit of revenge Tuesday night, with a 3-1 win over the Harrisburg Tigers in ESD volleyball action at Huron Arena, on Breast Cancer Awareness Night.
“A win is a win, right?” Tiger coach Shelly Buddenhagen asked rhetorically after the game. “We didn’t always play pretty tonight but we came out with the win. Good teams can struggle at times and still win and that was us tonight.”
Huron, which moves to 12-4 on the season holds the No. 3 spot in both the power points and state media poll, dropped a five-set decision to Harrisburg on Sept. 14. And despite some eerily similarities, Huron held on for the win, their seventh in a row. Harrisburg falls to 7-6 on the season.
Huron raced to a quick 5-1 lead and appeared to be focused on avenging the early season loss. Harrisburg managed to get the gap down to three points mid-set on a kill from Hallie Mertz. But a pair of kills from Schiltz, and ace from Havyn Heinz and some Harrisburg errors pushed Huron into a 7-0 run and them emerged with a 20-12 lead that they never gave back, taking the 25-13 win.
The second set saw Harrisburg jump out to the quick 5-1 lead, but Dale and Libby Rounds got the Huron ship righted. With the score tied, Tenley Buddenhagen and Rounds combined for a block, Alaina Dale got a kill and Schiltz notched an ace for an 11-7 lead. Huron held the lead the rest of the way - a quick run would get them a five or six point cushion - only to see Harrisburg mount a quick comeback. Huron never gave up the lead, however, and put a 25-22 win in the books.
It was Huron’s turn to open with a lead in the third set but Harrisburg fought back and knotted the score for the first time at 9-all. This time, however, instead of exchanging points, Harrisburg got a couple kills, from Abby Meister and Avery Kirkey, and took advantage of a couple of Huron errors to stake themselves to a 16-12 lead. Mertz, Kirkey and freshman Morissen Samuels scored on three straight chances and the lead swelled to seven points, and while Huron managed to cut the lead to four on different occasions, Harrisburg held on for the 25-18 win.