By John Rittenhouse
Hills-Beaver Creek recovered from a slow start to produce a 3-1 volleyball victory over Ellsworth in Hills Monday.
After falling behind 10-0 and eventually falling 15-13 in Game 1, the Patriots regained their winning form to secure 15-6, 15-5 and 15-0 wins to take the non-conference match against the Panthers.
When the match was complete, Patriot coach Nicole Fey was proud of the way her players bounced back from adversity early in the contest.
"We really struggled receiving serves, and we couldn't get anything going early in the match. After falling behind 10-0, we came back and played very strong volleyball the rest of the night," she said.
The momentum H-BC gained by scoring 13 of the last 18 points in Game 1 carried over into the second game when the Patriots evened the match at one game each.
Ellsworth led 4-3 in the second game when the Patriots went on an 8-0 run featuring two kills, one block and one service point by Erin Boeve, three service points by LaDonna Sandstede and a kill by Jody Rentschler to take an 11-4 advantage.
The Panthers closed the gap to five points at 11-6, but a block and a kill by Boeve followed by a pair of service points from Rentschler capped a 15-6 H-BC win that knotted the match at one game each.
H-BC scored the first 11 points and coasted to a 15-5 win in the second game.
The opening run featured two kills by Jana Hup, two kills and a block by Boeve, five service points by Leenderts and a kill by Angie Sjaarda.
Ellsworth scored the next four points to trail 11-4 before H-BC settled the issue with a 4-1 surge consisting of an ace serve by Melissa Fagerness, a kill by Cassi Tilstra, a block by Boeve and a service point from Kelsey Hansel.
The Patriots dominated Game 4 without surrendering a point.
Tonya Leenderts served the first six points with Boeve adding a kill, a block and a tip, and Sandstede adding another tip. Hup served an ace and two more points, and Brittney Olson delivered an ace serve to make it 10-0. Sjaarda served three aces and Boeve came up with a kill and a block to end the game.
The Patriots nearly recovered from a 10-0 deficit to win Game 1.
H-BC used two kills, two blocks and one service point by Boeve, one kill, one service point and one ace serve by Hup and one service point by Leenderts to trim EllsworthÕs early lead to one point at 10-9.
After Boeve tied the game at 12 with a kill, Leenderts gave the Patriots their first lead (13-12) with a service point that was followed by a three-point EHS run that settled the issue.
Boeve led H-BC at the net with 26 kills and five blocks. Sandstede distributed 26 set assists, and Leenderts produced 22 service points and nine digs.