Hunters defeat Bluejacket spikers in four

HIBBING—If there’s one player on the Hibbing High School volleyball team that exudes leadership, it’s senior setter Bevie Fink.

Fink’s presence on the court is like the glue that holds everything together.

So when Fink was injured just prior to the Bluejackets game with Duluth Denfeld, Hibbing coach Lauren Huju lost the quarterback of her team.

Fink never returned, and the Bluejackets missed her presence as the Hunters rolled to a 3-1, 25-16, 20-25, 25-5, 25-23 Tuesday on Kevin McHale Court in the Lincoln Elementary School Gymnasium.

How much did Fink’s absence affect Hibbing’s play?

“It affected us quite a bit,” Huju said. “I didn’t think it was going to that much. I thought they would use that as, ‘OK, we have to go win this one for her.’ They crumbled. She’s a standout leader out there.

“She can clearly bring them up, but we couldn’t do it tonight.”

That’s because Huju is running a 6-2 offense, but with Fink out of the lineup, she had to go to a 5-1.

The Bluejackets were discombobulated in the first game, falling behind 18-9 before rallying to make it 23-16.

That’s where the Bluejackets’ run ended.

“You get thrown off when you don’t have a player that’s there consistently,” Huju said. “When you can’t count on her to be out there on the court, you get thrown off. You have to have the smarts of the game to be able to adjust to that and push forward.”

After that first-set loss, Huju saw her team rebound and take set No. 2.

“I liked that we finally seemed to start coming together as a team,” Huju said. “We weren’t playing scared. That’s how I felt in that one. I thought that win was going to be, ‘Alright, we’ve got this now. We’re back in the groove.’ It didn’t happen.”

But Hibbing couldn’t maintain that momentum heading into set three.

The Bluejackets’ offense didn’t produce much, and the Hunters went on a 17-4 run, then finished out the set on a 8-1 run to take a 2-1 lead.

“We weren’t keeping that focus,” Huju said. “We played scared. Honestly, in that one I’m at a loss because I felt like the second set we came back, and we were finally playing our game.

“In the third one, we flopped. I’m not sure what happened there.”

Duluth Denfeld coach Cienna Strother liked the way her team rebounded from that set-two loss.

“They had a lack of communication and a lack of finishing on that third ball,” Strother said about set two. They started talking to each other more. They focused on their passing, getting their passes to the setter.

“Our setters set up their hitters to make good plays. They were listening to each other. We also played smarter with that third ball.”

Hibbing still had a chance in set four as it took a 14-9 lead, the Hunters didn’t panic.

Denfeld came back to tie it 16-16, then they made it 20-17.

The Bluejackets came back to tie it 22-22, then it was 23-23, but Denfeld got the next two points to close out the set and match.

“I think they played well,” Strother said. “They came through some adversity in that second set, but they came to the huddle and talked about it. They made some adjustments and came out to win the next two.

“They’re good at keeping their cool. I like to keep my cool, so hopefully, they learn by example. They’re good at keep their cool, too.”

Hibbing just couldn’t get the run it needed to send the match into five games.

“We really lost control of the things that we need to be in control of,” Huju said. “Serves going over. Denfeld took that and ran with it. We should be doing the same thing, but unfortunately, we didn’t.

“We lost focus. It was detrimental to us.”

The Hunters were led by Carys Gerard with two blocks; Jordyn Clements had four blocks; Lola Garcia had seven kills and four aces.

Hibbing was led by Emma Kangas with 18 assists; Brooke Siekkinen had nine kills and seven digs; Drea Madich had five kills and four blocks; Marisa Sibell had two aces and three blocks; Sydnee Moellering had one ace; and Addison Fisher had 13 digs.

Chisholm 3,

Cherry 0

CHERRY—The Bluestreaks got nine kills and two blocks from Ashley Panichi en route to the 3-0, 25-19, 25-22, 25-18 victory over the Tigers at Zupetz Gymnasium Tuesday.

Hennessey Temple had 26 assists for Chisholm, Zoe Plombon eight kills and Sloen Worlie three aces.

Cherry was led by Kaelyn Greenly with seven kills; Aunika Helms had six kills; Lydia Greenly 18 assists; Bella Grotberg eight digs; and Alli Kangas seven digs.

Greenway 3,

Deer River 0

COLERAINE—The Raiders got six kills and 12 aces from Ava Johnson in a 3-0, 25-8, 25-6, 25-16 victory over the Warriors Tuesday at Karen Tomberlin Gymnasium.

Olivia Troumbly had six digs and 12 assists for Greenway; Chloe Troumbly had eight digs; Ari Johnson four kills and Teegan Bodin three blocks.

Deer River was led by Ari Schjenken with three kills; Tatum Morrison seven digs; and Kira Applebee one ace.