Bella Olson and Myiesha Antoni attempt to block a Pillager kill attempt during last week’s Park Region Conference finale in Henning.

In their last two games of regular season play, the Henning Hornets went 1-1. 

On Monday, the Hornets traveled to Parkers Prairie and on Tuesday they hosted Pillager.  

Parkers Prairie is a very strong team in Section 6A, the core of their team has been playing varsity for the past three seasons and they are very strong hitters. The Panthers showed their experience throughout the match, but the young Hornets were able to take game two from them. When Henning’s serve-receive was on, they were able to keep the Panthers on their heels. However, Henning’s good passing was not consistent and Parkers Prairie was able to control the offense most of the night. 

Grace Jacobs dives for a tipped ball during last week’s game against the Huskies.

Head coach Kristy Finck said, if and when the Hornets passing can improve and become consistent, they are going to be a team that is hard to beat. It is difficult to always be on the defensive end of the game. 

In the game against Pillager, Henning serve-received better, but there is still a lot of room for improvement. The Hornets played with more determination and were able to finish in the close sets. The Hornets ended the night with a 3-0 win. This win places the Hornets fourth place in the Park Region Conference. PRC Champions was Wadena-Deer Creek, second went to Sebeka, third was New York Mills, fifth went to Bertha-Hewitt, sixth was Pillager, Menahga placed seventh and eighth place went to Vernale. 

Photo by Chad Koenen
Lillian Moench eyes up a dig during last week’s Park Region Conference game against Pillager. The Hornets open the sub section tournament this week.

Finck said she is happy placing fourth as the Hornets won more conference games then they lost, and the three top teams are solid. WDC and Sebeka both have a chance to make it to the state tournament this year. 

In the game against Parkers Prairie, the Hornets were led by Addison Bode and Emmalynn Bergstrom with 6 kills, while Myiesha Antoni and Alivia Emter each had 5. Cambrie Johnson led the team with 13 set assists and Emter added 7. 

Bergstrom had a good night serving as she was 16/16 with 2 aces, Bode was 12/12 with 2 aces, and Breanna Bunkowski was 6/6 with 2 aces. 

Grace Jacobs and Alivia Emter both serve-received well, as they both were 95 percent accuracy to the target. Lillian Moench led the team in digs with 20 and Antoni led the team in blocks with 2.

In the Pillager game, Myiesha Antoni led the team with 9 kills and 3 blocks. Addison Bode had 8 kills and 12 digs. Alivia Emter had 6 kills, 15 set assists, and was 9/9 serving with 2 aces. 

Cambrie Johnson had 15 set assists, Emmalynn Bergstrom was 15/15 serving with 2 aces, and Lillian Moench had 11 digs. Grace Jacobs and Emter did a nice job serve-receiving again as they were both 96 percent accuracy to the target.

The Hornets were seeded seventh in the Sub-Section 6A Tournament. They will host NCE-UH on Monday night. The winner of that game will play Hillcrest on Wednesday night, that game will be played at Hillcrest High School.

Henning wrapped up the regular season with a record of 9-19.