Photo by Chad Koenen
Gretchen Eckhoff picks up a dig during a recent volleyball game in Henning. The Hornets have started the season with a record of 8-2 overall and 2-0 in Park Region Conference action. 

The Henning volleyball team improved to 8-2 overall and 2-0 in the Park Region Conference with a pair of wins last week.  

On Tuesday night, the Hornets defeated Brandon-Evansville 3-0 (25-7, 25-19 and 25-23), and on Thursday the Hornets travel to Menahga and they defeated the Braves 3-0 (25-10, 25-14 and 25-14).

In the game against B-E the Hornets came out strong and controlled the offense the whole first set. Henning’s passing was strong, which helped their attacking. The team also served aggressive, which caused a lot of trouble for the Chargers.  

In game two and three the Hornets started to lose their intensity and made a lot of unforced errors. 

Head coach Kristy Finck said she told the girls this is something they really need to work on as they have to play with more energy and refuse to let their opponents control the offense. Finck said she told them they have to play as they are playing to win, not playing as they are trying not to lose.  

As a team the Hornets served 91 percent with 7 aces, they had 36 kills, hitting at .123, and serve receive was 86 percent to the target.

Grace Hammer led the team in kills with 13, Emma Severson had 9 and Ally Hart had 7.  Emma Severson had 3 solo blocks, Lyvia Misegades led in assists with 29 and Faith Fisher led the team with 16 digs. 

In the game against Menahga, the Hornets played with much more energy. They controlled the offensive end of the game from start to finish. Henning’s serve receive was very good, which helped Misegades get better sets to the Hornet hitters.  When Henning’s passes are good, she can set to all of the hitters, which makes it hard for teams to stop the team. 

As a team, the Hornets serve received 93 percent to target, they also served 95 percent with 6 aces.  In the three games, they had 31 kills, hitting at .143, and they had 8 blocks on the night. 

Emma Severson and Grace Hammer led the Hornets with 7 kills, Ally Hart had 6, Lily Fraki had 5 and Becca Frederick added 4.  Hart and Frederick each had 2 ace serves. Emma Severson led the team in blocks with 3, Lyvia Misegades led in assists with 28. Hart, Faith Fisher and Gretchen Eckhoff led the team in digging for the night.

The Hornets are off until Thursday when they will travel to Wadena-Deer Creek to take on the Wolverines. 

Then on Friday, they will travel to Burnsville to play in the Showcase Tournament.  This is a two-day tournament of top ranked teams. It will be a tough few days of volleyball for the Hornets, but it will be great experience and get them ready for the end of the season.

Photo by Chad Koenen
Becca Frederick eyes up a serve during a recent game in Henning.