Cyclones take down No. 4 Saintes, sweep triangular
HARLAN (Oct. 3) -- The evolution and growth of the 2017 Harlan Community volleyball team might be best exemplified by Tuesday’s second set against Council Bluffs St. Albert.
Already trailing one set to zero, the Cyclones led 9-4 when St. Albert rattled off 10 of the next 11 points. HCHS battled back to build a 23-20 advantage, then committed several errors as St. Albert reached set point (25-24) on an ace by Jordyn Blaha.
The Cyclones would respond one more time, however, scoring the next three points to even the match at 1-1 and setting the stage for an impressive 21-25, 27-25, 25-19, 25-18 home win over the fourth-ranked (2A) Saintes.
The momentum-turning second set was a good sign for the Cyclones, who have struggled at times this year to finish strong in the close ones against their toughest competition.
“It definitely shows our senior leadership. They stepped up,” said HCHS head coach Willie Baughman. “It was definitely nice to see us finally win something like that. We’ve been that close - eyelashes away.”
Earlier in the night, HCHS beat another Hawkeye Ten foe that it trails in the conference standings, sweeping Glenwood 25-20, 25-21, 25-17. St. Albert also swept the Rams (25-5, 25-9, 25-13) before facing Harlan.
The triangular sweep, coupled with last Saturday’s second-place, 4-1 showing at the Newton Tournament, puts the suddenly-surging Cyclones at 14-8 overall entering Thursday’s match at Clarinda. The two teams are tied for sixth place in the H-10 at 4-4.
St. Albert (21-3) is now 5-2 in conference play while Glenwood (12-10) dropped to 4-3.
Haley Leinen, who led the Cyclones with 14 kills vs. St. Albert and 24 on the night, added that splitting a pair of matches with 2nd-ranked (4A) Pella over the weekend has done wonders for the team’s confidence level.
“Now we know that we can beat anybody,” she said. “Beating the number two team in the state - it was so much fun - so we came in tonight knowing that we could beat these two teams and we did.”