VOLLEYBALL

After taking a set to warm-up, the HU volleyball team was a handful for 22nd-ranked Bethel (17-3, 6-2) Wednesday night at Platt Arena. It was the Foresters’ third straight battle against a ranked opponent and proved their third straight loss as the Pilots handed their hosts a 3-1 decision, 25-10, 25-18, 11-25, 25-19.

The Crossroads League is proving itself one of the toughest conferences in the nation as evidenced by including #8 Marian, #16 IWU and #22 Bethel, all three of which Huntington has gone toe-to-toe within a week’s time.

The Pilots are currently No. 1 in the nation in blocking with tonight confirming that notion. They patrolled the net for 15 blocks compared to HU’s six. Maddy Payne leads the country in total blocks and lived up to that hype by collecting 4.5 on this given night. She along with Isabelle North are a human wall. Together the pair has accumulated 176 blocks on the season with North claiming the #2 spot nationally in total blocks.

Tya Bynum put up a great fight at the net. In addition to posting nine kills, the 5-9 junior also finished with 2.5 blocks. De’Janea Johnson topped all attackers with 14 kills while Lindsay Ingenito and Kortney Grimm put down eight and six respectively. As a team, Herber’s crew tallied 39 kills to Bethel’s 35.

“I thought we made good adjustments tonight with hitting around the block and providing a strong block after struggling in the first set,” said Coach Kelsey Herber. “Tya Bynum was a spark for us in the middle providing a defensive wall and getting good touches.”

Morgan Robrock handed out 31 dimes as HU’s floor general. A pair of freshmen in Mikailah Thompson and Maddie Boomershine each tallied 13 digs to share game-high honors defensively.

“We have competed with each team in our conference,” noted Herber. “We now need to develop consistency and confidence in knowing we can play at our highest level all of the time.

“Tomorrow we are going to work on passing in practice because our serve receive dictates the quality of our offense.”

HU (7-10, 2-6) heads to Goshen on Friday. It’s the first matchup between these two teams before they start the second round of conference play on Saturday at Spring Arbor.