By John Rittenhouse
Hills-Beaver Creek assured itself of a winning record during its first year of volleyball competition as a member of the Red Rock Conference.
With a spectacular come-from-behind, 3-2 victory in Fulda Thursday, the Patriots improved their RRC record to 6-4 with one league match left to be played.
The victory, however, didn't come easily.
The Patriots found themselves in a 2-0 hole when the Raiders took the first two games of the match.
Instead of giving up, H-BC turned up the heat on the hosts and outscored them 45-25 while winning the final three games.
A change in the mental approach to the match proved to be the key to victory for H-BC.
"In the first two games we just didn't play very smart volleyball. In the last three games we started to read their defense and take what they were giving us. We played smarter volleyball in the last three games," said Patriot coach Nicole Fey.
The Raiders had their way with the Patriots while rolling to a 15-5 win in Game 1, but H-BC showed signs of regrouping while opening an 11-2 lead in Game 2.
Fulda, however, dominated play while putting together a 13-0 run that gave the hosts a 15-11 win and a 2-0 lead in games.
H-BC trailed early in the third game before rallying to knot the score at 11. At that point the Patriots went on a 4-1 run that clinched a 15-12 victory, which set the stage for a complete comeback.
The Patriots controlled play while securing a 15-8 victory in Game 4.
H-BC dominated the Raiders while opening a 10-0 lead in the fifth game, which ended with the Patriots winning 15-5 in the end.
Tonya Leenderts completed all 35 serves she attempted in the match and scored 26 points for the winners.
LaDonna Sandstede recorded 19 set assists for H-BC while Erin Boeve led the Patriots with 31 kills and 17 digs.