Heartland volleyball opened its season with four matches against Iowa Central, Lurleen B. Wallace, Schoolcraft and Dakota College at Bottineau and went 3-1 across the four of them.
Game 1: No. 10 Iowa Central def. No. 1 Heartland, 3-0 (25-21, 25-22, 25-15)
Some first-game jitters were evident for the Hawks in game one, but even so, Heartland committed uncharacteristic errors throughout the match. They totaled nine service errors, 15 attack errors and three reception errors, which led to the first match loss. The Tritons caused problems for the Hawks attack, holding them to just 28 kills. Outside hitter Addison Pacha was a bright spot, continuing her promising season from last year with 10 kills. Setter Reece Elaine Harrison also had 21 assists.
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Game 2: No. 1 Heartland def. Lurleen B. Wallace, 3-2 (22-25, 25-21, 25-15, 10-25, 15-12)
Game two was still a bumpy ride, but Heartland got back to the basics. Heartland lost the first set, but had 15 kills at a .414 clip. The next two sets, Heartland controlled the play with 26 total kills and limited the attack errors to just four. The fourth set was one to forget for the Hawks, committing five attack errors and getting just 10 points. The Hawks dug deep and won the last set 15-12 with nine kills.
Across the entire match, Pacha did it again with 13 kills and three service aces while contributing on defense with 13 digs. Elaine Harrison continued to set up her attackers with 41 assists. Kayleigh Keim and Ella Haines added 17 and 14 digs, respectively. Middle blocker Lexie Robokoff had a strong showing with eight kills in 16 attempts. Outside hitter Ava Yeakel was pivotal on offense with a team-high 14 kills.
Game 3: No. 1 Heartland def. Schoolcraft, 3-0 (25-17, 25-19, 25-20)
Heartland began to put it all together on the second day. The Hawks dominated all three sets behind an efficient offensive showing. As a team, the Hawks had 34 kills at a .287 clip. Robokoff led the way with a .700 hitting percentage, while Pacha led the team in total kills with 10. The Hawks block line gave Schoolcraft a lot of problems, holding them to a -.074 hitting percentage. Yeakel displayed dual-threat ability with six kills and nine digs.
Game 4: No. 1 Heartland def. Dakota College at Bottineau, 3-0 (25-11, 25-10, 25-14)
The Hawks' most impressive performance of the weekend came in their final game. They were a force on offense, totaling 33 kills at a .532 clip. Yeakel had 10 kills on a .750 clip, while middle blocker Elizabeth Schuster went 5-for-5 on kills. The story of the game ended up being the serve, with the Hawks having 19 aces: five from Keim, four from Pacha, four from defensive specialist Lucy Burris and three from Elaine Harrison.
Day two was a good building block for the Hawks before they face Chattanooga State and No. 4 Kansas City CC this Friday in the FRC at 12 p.m. and 2:30 p.m.
