Lady Trojans shake west-end jinx, beat Sheridan
DRUMMOND – On what appears to be the last sultry summer night of 2019, it got even hotter in the Drummond gym.
The Lady Trojans battled Sheridan to claim a five-set win over the visiting Lady Panthers 25-16, 18-25, 25-17, 26-28, 15-6.
The victory gives Drummond a 1-0 record as they start the season under the new leadership of Head Coach Brooks Phillips.
Over the first four games the two teams split the games evenly, with each team claiming victory whenever they were on the east end of the gymnasium. In the tie-breaker, Drummond was relegated to the west end by Sheridan where they had suffered many a loss in 2018.
But this is a new season and that year-old jinx went by the boards as Drummond jumped out to an early lead it would never relinquish to claim the win.
One of the keys to success was a lineup change midway through the match that shifted the position of the Lady Trojan middle players. The alteration gave the locals better matchups that resulted in more scoring and the win.
“I think at one point we started to play a little bit scared,” said Phillips of her girls. “I’m just really proud of how the girls adjusted to me putting them in a lineup they never practiced and never giving up. That quality makes them fun to coach.
“We’re still weak on our cover right now, and we’ll work on that. But the main thing was to get the first game under our belt at home and get a win.”
Juniors Hannah Bradshaw and Sydney Phillips led the team in kills with eight and seven, respectively, while senior Rylee Hilmo was tops in Service aces (5) and assists (18).
Drummond will take Friday off before heading to the Manhattan Christian tournament Saturday.
DRUMMOND STATISTICS
Kills (18) – Weaver 1, Phillips 7, Parke 1, Bradshaw 8, Hauptman 1
Blocks (3) – Phillips 3
Assists (21) – Hilmo 18, Weaver 1, Parke 1, Hauptman 1
Digs (38) – Hilmo 4, Weaver 8, Phillips 12, Parke 3, Bradshaw 4, Hauptman 6, Spencer 1
Aces (16) – Hilmo 5, Weaver 1, Phillips 1, Parke 4, Bradshaw 3, Hauptman 2
