By John Rittenhouse
The 2001 season got off to a rough start for Hills-Beaver Creek as the Patriots lost a 3-0 match to Sibley-Ocheyedan in Sibley, Iowa, Tuesday.
S-O is a team that has had H-BC's number in recent years, and that proved to be true again Tuesday.
The Generals beat the Patriots in a five-game match in Hills last fall, but they only needed three games to top H-BC this time.
"We were very inconsistent," said Patriot coach Nicole Fey. "There were some spurts when we got our passes to the setter and looked really good. Then we got into a slump, and we had a hard time getting out of it."
S-O, on the other hand, used its height at the net (the Generals have three players 6-0 or taller) to control the action on the court while outscoring H-BC 45-13 for the night.
The Generals secured a 15-4 win in the opener before H-BC made things closer while falling 15-8 in the second game.
S-O completed the sweep by coasting to a 15-1 win in the finale.
"They had some tall girls up front. We had a hard time trying to beat their block," Fey admitted.
Tonya Leenderts and Brittney Olson turned in strong serving performances for H-BC.
Leenderts was eight of eight with two aces. Olson was seven of eight with three aces.
Erin Boeve led H-BC at the net by completing 10 of 15 spikes and registering eight kills.
The 0-1 Patriots host Comfrey in the Red Rock Conference opener tonight. H-BC travels to Rock Rapids, Iowa, for the Central Lyon Tournament Saturday before returning to Rock Rapids to take on CL in a duel match Tuesday.