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Hayden volleyball defeats Soroco

Tigers roll in Oak Creek with three-game win

Luke Graham

Oak Creek — For the Hayden High School volleyball team, Tuesday’s performance at cross-county rival Soroco proved the Tigers are good at a little bit of everything. — For the Hayden High School volleyball team, Tuesday’s performance at cross-county rival Soroco proved the Tigers are good at a little bit of everything.

— For the Hayden High School volleyball team, Tuesday’s performance at cross-county rival Soroco proved the Tigers are good at a little bit of everything.

In the first game, they were dominant; in the second, they were resilient; and in the third, they showed they could finish. Hayden easily beat Soroco, 3-0, on Tuesday, winning by scores of 25-13, 25-18 and 25-14.

“We had lost two in a row,” Hayden coach Greg Johnson said. “They were spread out, but we needed to get back on a winning streak.”



Hayden did that, showing few effects of the team’s two-game losing streak. The Tigers came out from the first game and set the pace of play. Hayden was dominant at the net, especially in the middle. Soroco, however, could never seem to get anything going, and errors dotted the Rams’ three games.

“I don’t think there was any intensity, ever,” Soroco coach Kim Reeves said. “I don’t think they played that intense. We played like crap. There was no intensity on either side because they didn’t need any.”



After Soroco started strong in the first game — which has become habit for the Rams — Hayden rebounded behind strong play at the net by juniors Erin Koehler and Aubree Haskins. The two took turns in the middle, changing and dictating the course of play. A mid-game 10-2 run helped the Tigers easily pull away.

On cue, Soroco took control with a 10-5 lead in the second game. But Hayden slowly battled, getting the score to 10-all and eventually pulling ahead. The Tigers took the lead at 13-12 and never would let up.

“We’re strong at the net,” said Hayden senior Lindsay Parrott, who Johnson said had her best game of the year. “We have two of the biggest middles. We’re strong on the net, and that always helps us. It feels really good. We need to keep winning.”

In the final game, Hayden jumped out to a big lead, partly because of Soroco errors.

But whereas the Rams looked like they would make it a game in the previous two contests, the Tigers simply wouldn’t let it happen in the third game.

Hayden jumped out to leads of 9-2, 15-8 and 22-10 on its way to rolling the third game.

“That’s the best we’ve played in a long time,” Johnson said. “In a few weeks at least. When we run our offense, we’re tough to beat. “

Soroco next plays at 6:30 p.m. Friday at North Park.

Hayden plays at 3 p.m. Saturday at West Grand.


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