“This was a heartbreaker of a match,” said West Central Area Head Coach Missy Foslien.  “With each game score within two or three points of each other, it was a hard fought game.  Hancock seemed to have a greater energy tonight, their girls were getting up in the air and putting the ball down well.  We had opportunities but just did not finish.  In game five, we were up 8-1.  We had the momentum and it shifted and never really came back.  We made a lot of errors and had some net violations that really hurt.  Our serving was outstanding, as a team we served 96%.  Lizzie Rustan had a great night up at the net for us with thirteen kills and six ace blocks.  We definitely missed her in the front line up when she came out of the rotation.  Hannah Holman served extremely well with 100% serving on 19/19 attempts and had 4 aces.  Kaleigh Anderson played great defense (20 digs) and Morgan Stark (11 kills) hit the ball well too. We played a little sluggish as a team; just not ourselves.  A step slow on defense all around.”

Hailey Bennett distributed 16 set assists and Anderson had 9.  Bennett also had 16 digs and Kaylyn Ulrich added 22 digs and 5 kills.  Ellie Herman contributed 7 kills, 3 blocks and was 21-for-22 serving with 4 aces.  Anderson was strong on the serving line (17/17, 2 aces). 

“We hope to finish out the regular season next week playing up to our potential,” noted Coach Foslien. “These girls do love volleyball.  They work hard and they are great kids!  We have improved so much.  With a tough loss like tonight’s we learned that we need to be able to shake off mistakes, come ready to play, and believe that we can win together.”