The long awaited start to the volleyball season got going on Tuesday night as the #5 ranked Hitchcock-Tulare Patriots took down their in county rival, the Redfield Pheasants, in three straight sets.
In set one, Redfield did not go away quietly as the Patriots had several hitting and serving errors that kept the Pheasants in the match. The score was tied at 23 before the Patriots would score the last two points to give them a 1-0 lead.
Set two, the Patriots used some aggressive serving to get several aces and keep Redfield out of system. The Patriots won set two by a score of 25-15.
Set three was almost identical to set two as the Patriots would keep the pressure on the Pheasants with the aggressive serving. The ladies would run away with set three 25-16 and take the match 3-0.
Leading the way for the Patriots was Katelyn Schroeder with 12 kills. After that the scoring was pretty balanced. Lila Johnson and Rebecca Huizenga each added 5 kills and Ella Johnson had 4 kills. Lila Johnson dished out 20 assists and Gracyn Bixler recording 7. Even though the team missed 9 serves, they tallied an impressive 21 aces. Schroeder and Lila Johnson each had 6 aces to lead the way.
Defensively, Cambree Hoekman recorded a team leading 9 digs and Schroeder tallied 7. Huizenga and Cora Hofer each would record 2 block assists.
The Patriots are right back in action as they open the 281 Conference season against the James Valley Christian Vikings in Hitchcock. First serve is at 5:15 with the Jr. High opening up play.