Every time Hart’s Shelby Grubbs gets a block, her teammates jump out of their seats and shout out the number of blocks she has to make to beat the school record.
She’s currently 11 away from the record, but each game she gets closer and closer. The Indians’ 3-1 win over West Ranch at home on Thursday allowed plenty of opportunities.
Grubbs led the team with five blocks in Hart’s defensive effort against the Wildcats’ primary scorer, Allison Jacobs.
“Kylie Matson and Ruby (Duncan), especially on their biggest hitter, which is Allison, did such a phenomenal job just setting up the blocks,” Grubbs said.
The two teams battled in the first set, but the Indians (16-9 overall, 8-1 in Foothill League) pulled away on an Ashley Cosey kill to make it 21-19 and eventually closed out the game 25-20.
The Cats (11-13, 4-5) awoke for the second game, with Jacobs as the main contributor on offense. A serving mistake by Hart gave West Ranch an edge and paved the way for a 25-23 win.
“Our mindset in the last few matches is ‘hey, let’s disrupt some stuff,’” said Wildcats coach Jamey Ker. “Let’s go out and let’s beat teams that we’re not supposed to beat.
“So the competitive fire that was there for sure, because we definitely wanted to just shock the world a little bit.”
That fire was dampened when Hart bounced back with some key kills from Zoe DiNardo and the occasional block from Grubbs. The Indians took the game 25-7.
West Ranch took the lead midway through Game 4, but Hart quickly recovered and took the game 25-21 on a Cosey kill.
“I just wanted to hit the ball as hard as I could and I knew it was my last home game as a senior,” Cosey said. “So I just wanted to end it with a bang.”
Cosey totaled 18 kills on the night, with Makela Lyons following with seven. Makenna Fall had 26 digs and Matson had 37 assists for Hart.
Jacobs executed 28 kills and 10 digs for West Ranch. Sophie Bobal had seven kills and Ariana Romagnano had seven digs.
The Indians’ last game will be at Saugus on Tuesday at 5:30 p.m. West Ranch takes on Canyon on Tuesday at the same time.
Valencia 3, Saugus 2
The Vikings edged the Centurions 23-25, 25-13, 25-27, 25-15, 16-14.
Valencia’s Jess Throckmorton had 26 kills and 18 digs, while Lauryn Shockley had 21 kills and 24 digs. Koehler Compayre had 36 digs and Kaelyn White had 63 assists.
Caitlin Liebe had 16 kills for Saugus. Kayla Tait had 14 kills and 27 digs and Grace Ferguson had seven kills and 11 blocks.
Valencia moves to 18-9 overall and 8-1 in league with the win. Saugus is 16-11 and 5-4.
Golden Valley 3, Canyon 2
The Grizzlies are now 9-17-1 overall and 1-8 in Foothill League play. The Cowboys are 6-10-2 and 1-8.
