The Lady Patriots hosted the Sharks of Iroquois-Lake Preston for their homecoming match and once again the Patriots squeaked out a win in a 5 set thriller.
In set one, the Patriots found themselves down 3-9 early one. The ladies would slowly battle back and lead 14-13 after an I-LP timeout. The Patriots would continue to build the lead and eventually finish set one by winning 25-21.
Set two, proved to be different than set one. The Patriots found themselves down most of the set due to some aggressive serving from the Sharks. The Sharks would take set 2, 25-18.
In set three, the Patriots would fine themselves down by 5 early in the set due to unforced errors by the Patriots. The Ladies would claw their way within two, making the Sharks use a timeout. The Sharks would then go on a run and win set three 25-20.
Set four was all the Patriots, as they jumped out to a lead and sustained it most of the set. H-T would win set four with relative ease 25-18 to set up the deciding set 5.
In the deciding set, the Patriots would be on the receiving end of the serve to start and found themselves down 6-0 to start the short set. The Patriots would get back in the set only being down one when the Sharks called a timeout. The set would be knotted at 12 apiece when I-LP used their final timeout. The Patriots would come out of the timeout and miss the serve which allowed the Sharks a one point advantage. The Patriots went right back to work setting up Rebecca Huizenga on the outside to tie the set with the kill. The Patriots would then find Ella Johnson for the line shot and kill to make the set 14-13. H-T would finish off the Sharks by finding Huizenga in the middle with an exclamation kill to finish the night and take the set 15-13 and the match 3-2 .
Leading the way for the Patriots was Rebecca Huizenga going 31-34, tallying 18 kills. Ella Johnson had some big plays in the match and had a nice night hitting going 26-29 with 8 kills. Isabel Gilbert also contributed 9 kills in the win.
Presley Binger and Gracyn Bixler orchestrated the offense with Bixler tallying 26 assists and Binger adding 12 before having to sit out most of the 4th set and 5th set after taking a hard ball to the head.
Defensively, Cambree Hoekman led the team with 23 digs and Brooklyn Frankenstein played a great back row and tallied 22 digs. Ella Johnson and Binger each added 13 and 11 digs respectively. A host of our front row player would record 6 block assists with Gilbert leading the charge with 2. Huizenga also tallied 1 block solo.
The Patriots would tally 8 aces in the match, led by Bixler with 5 and Binger with 2.
The Patriots, 7-8, will be back in action at the Sioux Falls Pentagon on Saturday morning for a tournament. They are slated to take on the Falcons from Florence-Henry at 8:00 a.m. They will then play three more matches that morning to finish out the tournament.