VOLLEYBALL

The Forester volleyball team kicked off league play Wednesday evening at the Hutzell Athletic Center by claiming a 3-1 road win (25-17, 18-25, 25-22, 25-18) over Saint Francis.  It’s HU’s second straight win over the Cougars (6-7, 0-1) and marks the first time since 2017 that the program has opened up Crossroads League action with a victory.

Huntington’s mainstays offensively in Haley Kruse, Tya Bynum and Kortney Grimm stayed true to their play by each logging double-digit kills. Kruse topped the Foresters with 14 kills while the other two added 11 apiece.

Bynum needed just 19 swings and finished with just two errors for an impressive .474 hitting percentage. As a team, HU was twice as efficient as their hosts having posted a .206 hitting percentage to USF’s .101.

Morgan Robrock kept her team organized offensively by dishing out 41 assists. She also collected nine digs, two kills and 1.5 blocks for a solid all-around performance.

At the net defensively, the Foresters were also stellar with ten blocks. Leah Carter led the charge with 3.0 blocks while Bynum and Kruse each chipped in 2.5. The backline was anchored by Layla Meyer who tracked down 21 digs.

“Our girls executed the game plan beautifully tonight,” said Coach Kelsey Herber. “We passed consistently, established our middles, put them out of system, served aggressively, covered well and adjusted our defense against their outsides.

“Morgan ran a beautiful offense for us, and our middle hit an impressive attacking percentage. I was proud of how this team responded after I challenged them in the second set. We were aggressive from start to finish, and this is a great way to begin our conference journey.”

Huntington has won four of their last five matches to improve to 5-7 on the year, 1-0 in league play. Herber and crew have a week’s break before hosting IWU on September 14.