It’s not supposed to be easy when a team reaches the regional semifinal, but Huron made it look just that by sweeping Utica in impressive fashion to reach the regional final.
The Tigers defeated the Redskins, 25-21, 25-10, 25-22, on Oct. 30 at Lake High School in Millbury.
The scary thing about the win is that Huron coach Don Wood believes his team can play better.
‘That wasn’t our sharpest,’ Wood said. ‘Part of that is the way Utica plays though. It’s hard to contain a player like (Utica senior Rachel) Londot. She’s a nice player.
‘This was one of those games in the tournament you’ve got to survive, whether it’s ugly or not, and the kids kept their composure and got the job done. That’s all that matters. We’re moving on.’
In the first two games, the Tigers looked nearly unstoppable.
Huron was led by the huge hitting of seniors Hannah Cantrill, Hadley Sterett and Jacqui Mullins, who combined for 32 kills in the match.
The Redskins looked discombobulated for much of the first two games, as the Tigers kept drilling kill after kill that put Utica back on its heels.
‘We have these free-ball plays that we run to keep things complex, so they don’t know where the ball’s going,’ Cantrill said.
‘That was pretty much (why they may have seemed confused).’
The Redskins were able to hang around with Huron in the opening game, tying the match six times, before the Tigers finally put them away, 25-22.
Huron thoroughly dominated Game 2 though, 25-10, and seemed to have Utica on the ropes.
The Redskins showed some fight in Game 3, jumping out to an 8-4 lead. It was the first lead Utica had since leading, 17-16, in Game 1.
‘The first few points (for Utica) came awfully easy, and that’s never a good thing,’ Wood said.
‘The girls relaxed a little bit and got back on their heels. The other team starts playing, and all of a sudden, we have a game.’
Trailing by as many as five, 12-7, the Tigers battled back to tie the match at 13 to regain momentum in the match. Wood was happy to see his team respond the way it did and not allow the match to go to a fourth game.
‘If you give a team confidence like that (by taking Game 3), you get to a fourth game and they’ve got some momentum going, and you’re in a real dogfight,’ he said. ‘I was happy to see our girls keep their composure and battle back.
‘Now I get to get them home earlier to bed for school tomorrow, so that’s probably the biggest plus of not going to four.’
Cantrill agreed, with the first part at least.
‘It was very important (to not let it go to a fourth game), because we didn’t want them to get their energy up,’ she said. ‘We can get down easily, and it would not have been good.’
While the big hitters for the Tigers may get a large amount of the credit for the team’s success, Cantrill said it wouldn’t be possible without the play of the team’s setters.
‘If we get a really good set from our setters, we can put it down pretty hard,’ she said. ‘Nobody understands how hard our setters work. They stay after practices and stay longer than we do. They’re always working, and their hustle is great.’
Sophomore Alli Grendow was 41 of 41 in setting chances, with 15 assists, while fellow sophomore Gabriella Wood was 36 of 36 on sets, with 20 assists.
Utica finished the season with a 22-5 record.
Huron improved to 22-4 and will play Coldwater in the regional final on Nov. 1 at 2 p.m. at Lake High School.
