Hills-Beaver Creek sophomore setter Melinda Sandstede (11) tips the ball over the net during Thursday's Red Rock Conference volleyball match against Comfrey in Hills. Sandstede contributed 28 set assists to H-BC's cause during a 3-1 win.
By John Rittenhouse
The Hills-Beaver Creek volleyball team posted a come-from-behind victory in its first Red Rock Conference match Thursday in Hills.
Hosting Comfrey in its RRC debut after years of playing in the Tri-County Conference, H-BC made a good impression by besting the Rockets 3-1.
The Patriots struggled while falling 15-13 in Game 1, but they bounced back to play well while notching 15-8, 15-2 and 15-8 wins the rest of the night.
"We couldn't get our serves in and we were not moving well in the first game," said Patriot coach Nicole Fey. "The girls really picked it up after that and played more like themselves. We served 100 percent in the second game, and our passing was great. I really was impressed with our passing."
H-BC quickly erased the memories of a Game 1 loss by going on a 9-1 run to start the second game.
Tonya Leenderts, who was 21 of 24 serving with 16 points in the match, served three aces and another point to start the second game. Two kills by Erin Boeve and another by Jana Hup, and a service ace and another point by Melinda Sandstede gave the Patriots a 9-1 cushion.
The difference still was at eight points (12-4) when Comfrey recorded four consecutive counters to trail 12-8, but Angie Sjaarda served a pair of points before Leenderts recorded a kill that sealed a 15-8 H-BC win.
Game 3 was tied at one when the Patriots went on a 10-0 run featuring three kills and a service point by Boeve, one kill by Olson, three ace serves by Leenderts and a kill and a block by Hup to make it an 11-1 game.
After Comfrey ended the run, Hup served two aces, Olson added another and Boeve provided a block to clinch a 15-2 H-BC win.
Comfrey led 5-4 early in the fourth game before the Patriots scored seven straight points (an ace serve and two points by Boeve, two points by Sandstede and one kill each from Olson and Sjaarda) to gain an 11-5 advantage.
The Rockets closed the gap to four points (11-7) when H-BC went on a 4-1 run to ice a 15-8 victory. Boeve had two kills in the final run, while Sjaarda and Leenderts served one point each.
H-BC had an 8-5 lead in Game 1 and led 11-10 after Sjaarda produced a kill, but the Rockets scored the next four points to gain a 14-11 lead. A point and an ace served by Sjaarda made it a 14-13 game, but the Rockets scored the final point in a 15-13 win.
Sjaarda was 13 of 14 serving with 10 points.
Sandstede recorded 28 set assists in the match, helping Boeve, Hup and Olson register 23-, eight- and five-kill matches respectively. Boeve had five ace blocks for the winners.