The Hay Springs volleyball team took on 11 sets within 24 hours this weekend, starting with a win against the Edgemont Moguls on the evening of Friday the 13^th. The game was a nail biter; it went to 5 sets! The Hawks came out strong in the first two sets, with scores of 25-16 and 25-22, but couldn’t keep it together for the third and fourth, when they were outscored 20-25 and 13-25.  The final set was won by Hay Springs with a score of 17-15. Leading the Lady Hawks in points was Kate Roberts with 13, who also served 7 aces. Jesse Heiting, Whitney Heiting, and Cydney Jancik each contributed 8 points to the game. Whitney also contributed 5 aces and 13 kills, while Jesse had 3 aces and 16 assists. Cydney served 4 aces and had 6 kills and 5 digs. Stephanie Tlustos also had 16 assists and hammered down 7 kills in the Edgemont game.

The volleyball girls woke up bright and early the next morning to play St. Paul, a C1 school at the Gordon Tournament.  The Lady Hawks were defeated by St. Paul 8-25 and 11-25, and the leading stats were held by Whitney Heiting and Jesse Heiting, who each contributed 2 points to the sets and Kate Roberts, who put down 2 kills.

Shortly after, the Hawks took on the Rams from Crawford and defeated them without trouble in 2 sets. Stephanie Tlustos led the varsity girls with 12 points and 13 aces, followed closely by Kate Roberts with 11 points, 4 aces and 4 blocks. Jesse Heiting commanded the assists with 5, and also contributed 3 kills. Whitney Heiting likewise had 3 kills, along with 9 points and 6 ace serves and Cydney Jancik contributed 10 digs to the Crawford game. After the high from defeating Crawford, the defeat by the Hemingford Bobcats was a buzz-kill with scores of 17-25 and 21-25. The leading scorer for Hay Springs was Jen Scherbarth, with 6 points. Following behind with 4 points was Kate Roberts, who also added 2 aces, 4 kills, 3 digs, and 2 blocks. Steph Tlustos had 4 kills as well, along with 8 assists.

The Lady Hawks came into the tournament with a record of 4-0 and left with a record of 5-2. The Hawks are scheduled to compete in the Hemingford Tournament on Saturday, September 21.

The Lady Hawks had a victorious start to their season at home against the Oelrichs Lady Tigers on Saturday, September 7. It was a close game that went to five sets. The score of the game was 22-25, 25-20, 25-15, 19-25, and 15-10. Leading the way for the Lady Hawks, Kate Roberts had 14 points, 4 aces, 7 blocks, and 9 kills. Whitney Heiting added 11 points and 4 aces. Steph Tlustos had 18 assists and Cydney Jancik had 9 digs. When asked about the game, Coach Bila said, “We came in underestimating Oelrichs, who had some great servers that made us work hard to earn every point.”

The Lady Hawks were back in action on Tuesday, September 10, when they traveled to Harrisburg to play Banner County and Hemingford in a triangular. The Lady Hawks played Banner County first, and won easily in straight sets, 25-14 and 25-9. Pacing the Lady Hawks was Cydney Jancik with 12 points, 4 aces, and 6 kills. Whitney Heiting had 12 points, 3 aces, and 6 kills, and Steph Tlustos added 12 assists. The second game of the evening was Hay Springs against Hemingford. The Lady Hawks came out with a high energy level and never looked back, beating the Lady Bobcats in two sets, 25-21, 25-17, and bringing their record to 3-0. Mrs. Bila said, “The girls played really hard and we kept a high level of intensity and enthusiasm”. Whitney Heiting led the way with 9 points, 3 aces, and 9 kills. Steph Tlustos and Jesse Heiting had 9 assists each.

The Lady Hawks are back in action Friday, September 13 against Edgemont at home. The game will start at 6 p.m. They will also travel to the Gordon-Rushville Invitational on Saturday, and their first game is against St. Paul at 8 a.m.