SLINGER 鈥 Even from the overly critical coach鈥檚 perspective, it was hard to find too much fault with Slinger鈥檚 performance.
The Owls, ranked No. 4 in Division 1 in the Wisconsin Volleyball Coaches Association state poll, set the tone with a dominant first set and went on to sweep Homestead in a girls volleyball match between the two top teams in the North Shore Conference on Thursday night.
"I think we started the game strong, but think we kind of lost a little bit of focus towards the end, but overall, it was a good win,鈥 Slinger co-coach Korie Schofield said.
Slinger, which improved to 5-0 in the conference, won in three sets, 25-13, 25-20 and 25-19.
鈥淚 think there were really good times, there were some bad times,鈥 Slinger鈥檚 Allie Beers said. 鈥淲e definitely have stuff to improve on, but overall, we did a lot of good things. We connected well, like with the setter-hitter connection.鈥
The Owls used an 8-1 run to pull away from a 10-all tie in the opener. Miley Quade had three kills to fuel the spurt.
鈥淲e passed better at the beginning,鈥 Schofield said. 鈥淲e were passing well, it allows to run an offense with fewer blockers on the other side, because we kept them on their toes.鈥
Slinger methodically pulled away midway through the second set, using a 10-4 run to open a 15-8 advantage. Homestead, playing without all-conference setter Anya Mikhailenko, pulled within 20-18 on a net violation against the Owls.
Slinger responded with three consecutive points to push the lead back to 23-18.
Homestead capitalized on several early Slinger mistakes to open a 7-3 lead in the final set. The Owls regained control with five consecutive points. The Highlanders tied it 8-8, but Slinger responded with a seven point run to go in front 15-8.
Homestead had a late five-point spurt to pull within 23-18, but Beers closed out the sweep with a pair of kills.
鈥淲e had our ups and downs, but obviously we came out with a win, which was good,鈥 Slinger鈥檚 Ella Kohnen said.
Beers finished with a team-high 14 kills. Kohnen had 27 assists and nine digs; Malena Benz had three blocks; and freshman Brooke Zoromski had two aces.
鈥淥bviously we鈥檙e disappointed with the results,鈥 Homestead coach Ali Porter said. 鈥淲e were missing a rotation player, so we were trying to figure out what our lineup was like without her and it was a little bit shaky. There were parts that were good, and parts that we鈥檝e got to work out.
Ava Russell led the Highlanders with six kills and two blocks, while Kennedy Klueger had 13 digs, Nyla Steltz distributed 11 assists to go with two aces and Lauren Fitzgibbon also had two aces.
鈥淭hey鈥檙e obviously an excellent team. We worked really hard,鈥 Porter said. 鈥淏ut this not close to our best effort. Like I said, some of it is we had girls playing new roles and trying to figure out what things look like without a major piece 鈥 but we鈥檝e got to be resilient and figure it out.鈥