HURON — The Huron Tigers got their record back on the plus side Friday night, downing the Rapid City Central Cobblers in straight sets, as nearly all the Huron roster saw some court time in the blowout win.
Set scores for Huron, which improves to 10-9, were 25-19, 25-12 and 25-23. RCC falls to 6-23 on the season.
“I thought that tonight might be the last real chance we had to get the bench some court time at home,” said Huron coach Josh Lien on his third set substitution pattern. “With the caliber of teams that we still have on the schedule coming to Huron Arena we wanted those girls in and get them some time, plus the season is winding down - we have some bumps and bruises - and we have a quick turn-around with a Saturday afternoon game.”
Huron never trailed in the opening set as Hamtyn Heinz went back-to-back aces and Karsyn Kopfmann got a kill for an out-of-the-box 3-0 lead. The Cobblers didn’t make the drive just to roll over, however, as Matayah Yellow Mule keyed a rally that saw RCC knot the score at 8-8.
Emily Dale got into the swing of things with a kill and Brynn Gose scored on three consecutive kill attempts to put the Tigers up 14-9. A couple of Tiger hitting errors opened the door for the Cobblers, but Heinz got a kill, Gose got another, Heavan Gainey got a block-kill and Heinz recorded an ace as the lead swelled to 18-11 and the Cobblers were never able to get closer than three points the rest of the way.
Central jumped out on top in the second set, as Yellow Mule got a kill - she would end with seven for the Cobblers - and Katelyn Haumschild got an ace. But Peyton Schuchhardt got a kill that touched off a 6-0 Huron rally that saw Gainey sandwich ace serves around a Kopfmann kill. Unlike the first set, when RCC was able to fight its way back into the match, the Tigers kept up the pressure in set two. Reese Rozell got a kill, Bryn Huber collected an ace and then Rozell and Dale combined to thwart a Cobbler kill atempt and Huron was off and running. A 4-0 mini-run, keyed by a kill and an ace from Schuchhardt put Huron up by seven and down the stretch it was Schuchhardt and Dale that provided the first power, as Heinz collected an ace to close the 25-12 win.
Set three was nip-and-tuck most of the way as the teams traded kills and errors through the early game. Central took a 9-8 lead on a kill from Leah Richardt, but back-to-back kills from Gainey and a block-kill from Kopfmann put Huron back on top.
The teams traded points, then, on the point of the night, Huron and Central traded haymakers for a long rally, keyed by several outstanding digs by both teams, before Dale got a set to her liking and pounded it home into the heart of the Cobbler defense for a two-point Huron lead and the Tigers wouldn’t give up the advantage the rest of the way.
Central rallied as Lien went deep into his bench, as all but one player on the Tiger roster got into the action. The lead got down to a single point, but Rozell led the first string back on to the floor, pounded home kills for two of the final three Huron points and the team celebrated the 25-23 win.
“Defensively, I thought we had a really good night,” Lien said. “We put some young girls in and they responded. I thought everyone that played tonight did a good job and I think that Peyton did very well, particularly when we asked her to serve, which she rarely does.”
In the match, Amarae Rinto and Yellow Mule each had seven kills, Richardt added four and Kaitlyn Thormahlen chipped in four.
A widely diverse Tiger attack saw Gainey with eight kills and two aces, while Dale added seven kills. Heinz had five kills and four aces, Kopfmann had four kills, as did Gose and Schuchhardt had four kills and two aces in the match.
“We’ve found a bit of a groove and we are playing well right now and we will need to with Stevens coming in Saturday,” Lien said. “If we can continue to serve and pass as well as we have been, we’ll be okay I think.”
Lower level matches saw Huron taking a sweep against the Cobblers. The Tiger JV team posted a come-from-behind 24-26, 25-23, 16-14 win, while the Tiger Sophomores took their match in a sweep, 25-22 and 25-22.
Huron is back in action this afternoon, as the Tigers will host Rapid City Stevens, with a 1:30 varsity match scheduled. Stevens dropped a 3-1 match to Mitchell Friday night.
Set scores
R.C. Central 19 12 23
Huron 25 25 25
