VOLLEYBALL

The Huntington volleyball team outlasted Aquinas in five, 22-25, 25-19, 16-25, 25-18, 15-11, to kick off the Rochester Tri-Match Friday night before conceding a 3-1 loss, 25-18, 25-20, 10-25, 25-13, to the host Warriors for the split at Garth Pleasant Arena.

Staring at a 1-2 deficit against the Saints, the Foresters didn’t seem fazed as they confidently cruised to back-to-back wins in the final two sets to mount a come-from-behind W. HU has won two of the three five-setters they’ve played in this season.

De’Janea Johnson came up big with a match-best 17 kills. Her teammates in Kortney Grimm and Tya Bynum also had dominate performances by chipping in 15 and 12 kills respectively. The trio combined for 44 kills, just four fewer than AC’s whole team.

Morgan Robrock filled the stat sheet by posting 47 assists, 11 digs, four kills, two aces and 1.5 blocks. Hannah Maier was locked in defensively to track down a match-high 24 digs. Grimm added 12 digs while Mikailah Thompson tallied ten.

“I am proud of how we played against Aquinas,” said Coach Kelsey Herber. “It was a great win for us. We were mentally tough, executed adjustments, played with great energy and intensity and finished well.”

Unfortunately, a quick turnaround to take on Rochester didn’t serve Herber’s crew as they’d hoped. They dropped the first two sets but got on track with a big third set win before the Warriors returned the favor to wrap up the match with a quick fourth set.

The nightcap saw Bynum match her Aquinas totals with 12 kills. Johnson put down nine and Grimm finished with eight. Grimm was active defensively as well to collect a team-best 20 digs. Three others in Thompson (17), Johnson (16) and Maddie Boomershine (14) also racked up double-digit digs.

At the net, HU posted nine blocks behind Anna Lewis’ 3.5 blocks, two of which were of the solo variety. Grace Francis added two. Per usual, Robrock did a little bit of everything by posting 25 assists, nine digs and three aces.

“There is frustration in our loss against Rochester because I believe we were the better team,” said Herber. “While we didn’t play poorly overall, we did struggle to execute the details. Often, it’s the details that are the difference between winning and losing a match.

“We can learn a lot from our two matches today that I believe will make us better moving forward. I’m excited for our match against Mount Vernon on Wednesday.”

The Foresters (9-13) return to Platt Arena to host Mount Vernon on Wednesday at 7:00 p.m.