Hornets in 4 over Cougars

Harvey-Wells County came within just a couple of points of a three game sweep, but managed to defeat the visiting North Prairie Cougars in four games to pick up a huge Region 4 victory on Tuesday, October 1, at the Harvey Gymnasium.

The Hornets and Cougars had a close match early on in game one, but the serving of Christalea Wagner brought HWC from one down to a lead of 11-6. Rachel Neumiller had three kills in the seven-point run. The Hornets continued to pour it on as the lead grew to 20-9 with the help of kills from Braylee Keller and Taylor Nelson and back-to-back aces from Kali Fike. The Hornets closed out game one with a 25-17 victory.

HWC got the early lead in the second set, jumping out to a 7-3 lead on kills from Keller and Rylee Jones. The Cougars' big hitter, Madison Samuelson, recorded three kills and Payton DeMers added two aces in a row, as North Prairie took control, 15-10. HWC kept things close, cutting the lead to just 21-20, but the Cougars sealed the extra-point win with kills from Jenna Rosinski and Kenzy Wuori to win, 26-24.

The Hornets once again had the hot start in the third set, taking a 7-3 lead on two kills each from Keller and Neumiller. After having the lead cut to two, HWC jumped to a 14-8 lead on two more kills from Keller. Samuelson's three kills pulled North Prairie to within one at 16-15 but could get no closer, and a Wagner kill and two attack errors from the visitors gave the Hornets the 25-20 win in game three.

The two teams played a very even fourth game, with the set being tied 13 times before being knotted for the last time at 17 each. Three Keller kills to go along with an ace and kill from Fike helped HWC end the night on a 8-1 run to claim set four, 25-18 and the match, 3-1.

The Hornets were led by the power of Neumiller and Keller, who recorded 12 and 11 kills respectively. Fike dished out 31 assists and had six service aces to pace HWC in those statistical categories. Keller led in blocks with three and digs with 17, but the entire squad put forth a solid effort for the victory.

The Cougars were led by Samuelson's 14 kills and Brinley Bassingthwaite's 31 assists. Rosinski had 18 digs, while DeMers chipped in with 16 more for the Cougars, who dropped to 5-4 overall.

Super Region 4 Volleyball

HWC 3, North Prairie 1

at Harvey

NP 17 26 20 18 ­ - 1

HWC. 25 24 25 25 ­ - 3

HWC Individual Statistics

Kills: Rachel Neumiller 12, Braylee Keller 11, Christalea Wagner 5, Kali Fike 3, Rylee Jones 2, Taylor Nelson and Maci Reutter 1.

Assists: Fike 31, Keller, Neumiller and Reutter 1.

Aces: Fike 6, Brooklyn Dockter, Keller and Reutter 2, Nelson 1.

Blocks: Keller 3, Fike 2, Nelson and Reutter 1.

Digs: Keller 17, Dockter 14, Fike 12, Neumiller 11, Reutter 5, Wagner 3, Nelson 2, Jones 1.

North Prairie Individual Statistics

Kills: Madison Samuelson 14, Payton DeMers 10, Kenzie Cahill 9, Jenna Rosinski 6, Kenzy Wuori 2, Charleigh McCloud 1.

Assists: Brinley Bassingthwaite 31, Cahill and Rosinski 3, Mylee Martell 2, DeMers and Samuelson 1.

Aces: Samuelson 2, Cahill, DeMers, Rosinski and Wuori 1.

Blocks: Samuelson 2, Rosinski 1.

Digs: Rosinski 18, DeMers 16, Samuelson 10, Bassingthwaite 7, Alaejha Grant 6, McCloud 5, Wuori 4.