Watauga volleyball team crushes Hibriten
by Steve Behr Sports Editor
ut the regular season with a 3-0 victory over Hibriten on Senior Night at Lentz-Eggers Gym.
Watauga honored its seniors — Ashlyn Van Dyke, Emily Hinshaw, Channing Hagaman and Kristen Carter — before the match. The Pioneers promptly steamrolled Hibriten 25-9, 25-6, 25-5.
The Pioneers had little trouble rolling past the overmatched Panthers, who struggled to return most of Watauga’s serves. Watauga finished with 22 serving aces as a team, including six by Carter, six by junior middle blocker Rebecca Hayes and four by Hinshaw.
The serves Hibriten were able to send back were usually fielded by the Pioneers, and returned for Watauga kills. Carter finished with 32 assists.
“It was a very good end to the season,” Hagaman said. “Hopefully, that can carry into Saturday when we have the first round of the playoffs here.”
Watauga head coach Kris Hagaman was unsure who that opponent would be, but said the match would be at Lentz-Eggers gym. Watauga did not win the Northwestern Conference championship, but finished the highest of the three 4-A teams in the conference and earned the league’s No. 1 playoff seed.
Watauga will see a much stronger test on Saturday than it did on Tuesday. The Pioneers, behind the offense of Hayes and Channing Hagaman, were too much for Hibriten to handle.
Hagaman finished with 16 kills, while Hayes added 14 to go with her six aces.
“We did a good job with serve receive,” Kris Hagaman said. “The passes went to the target areas and we were able to get some good sets.”
The pair, with help from the serving of Kiersten McClannon, sparked Watauga to an 8-0 run to close out the first set.
Watauga went on an 11-0 run in the second set to claim a 22-4 lead that was never challenged.
Watauga honored its seniors — Ashlyn Van Dyke, Emily Hinshaw, Channing Hagaman and Kristen Carter — before the match. The Pioneers promptly steamrolled Hibriten 25-9, 25-6, 25-5.
The Pioneers had little trouble rolling past the overmatched Panthers, who struggled to return most of Watauga’s serves. Watauga finished with 22 serving aces as a team, including six by Carter, six by junior middle blocker Rebecca Hayes and four by Hinshaw.
The serves Hibriten were able to send back were usually fielded by the Pioneers, and returned for Watauga kills. Carter finished with 32 assists.
“It was a very good end to the season,” Hagaman said. “Hopefully, that can carry into Saturday when we have the first round of the playoffs here.”
Watauga head coach Kris Hagaman was unsure who that opponent would be, but said the match would be at Lentz-Eggers gym. Watauga did not win the Northwestern Conference championship, but finished the highest of the three 4-A teams in the conference and earned the league’s No. 1 playoff seed.
Watauga will see a much stronger test on Saturday than it did on Tuesday. The Pioneers, behind the offense of Hayes and Channing Hagaman, were too much for Hibriten to handle.
Hagaman finished with 16 kills, while Hayes added 14 to go with her six aces.
“We did a good job with serve receive,” Kris Hagaman said. “The passes went to the target areas and we were able to get some good sets.”
The pair, with help from the serving of Kiersten McClannon, sparked Watauga to an 8-0 run to close out the first set.
Watauga went on an 11-0 run in the second set to claim a 22-4 lead that was never challenged.