Drew Terhall

DailyAdvocate.com

UNION CITY — Mississinawa Valley High School is on a tear right now. Since losing to Franklin Monroe on Sept. 1, The Lady Hawks are 7-1. Their seventh win during this eight game stretch came on Sept. 19 against Union City High School.

Head coach Nancy Whitted said the team is playing with more confidence as their team chemistry grows.

“They’re learning new rotations and are getting comfortable with each other. Playing together in the same rotation and working together has really helped them,” Whitted said. “They have really great chemistry right now.”

The first set didn’t start out so smooth for the Lady Hawks. Mississinawa Valley came out sluggish and Union City kept pace with them.

The errors from the Lady Hawks helped Union City stay in the set. Eventually, Mississinawa Valley got some key kills and found a way to win the first set, 25-22.

Slow starts have been a common theme for this team.

“Like they have all year, they start out slowly. Then they get warmed up, start having fun, start getting kills and start getting more confidence. Then it goes from there and they play like I know they can play,” Whitted said.

The team played progressively better in the next two sets. The Lady Hawks looked more in control in the second set and won 25-16. Their serving game helped Mississinawa Valley get into a groove.

Then Mississinawa Valley took complete control over the match in the third set. Union City was hanging on and called a timeout down 5-8. Things would not go as planned for Union City.

The Lady Hawks came out attacking and went on a 10-1 run to go up 18-6. From there, Mississinawa Valley cruised to a 25-12 set win and complete the sweep over Union City.

Jocelyn Hoggatt led the team in kills with 11. Hoggatt also led the team in serving aces with seven. Brenna Price was second in kills with eight and second in service aces with four.

As a team, the Lady Hawks had 29 kills and 18 service aces. They were able to either score right from the serve or rally to get their point.

The sweep marks a third straight win for the Lady Hawks. The team has stepped up their play, as evident in the stats. Mississinawa Valley has at least one player in five of the six major categories in the WOAC.

Mississinawa Valley is now 8-5 on the season. The Lady Hawks do have a rivalry game coming up soon. On Sept. 22, they will travel to take on Ansonia in what should be a well-played match.

Contact Daily Advocate sports editor Drew Terhall at [email protected]