Girls volleyball: Harvest Christian pulls away from St. Edward
Harvest Christian graduated four players from last year's team that reached the state tournament for the first time.
Good thing for the Lions they still have Kaitlin Murray.
Murray finished with 840 assists for last year's team, and she picked up where she left off in Harvest Christian's season-opener Thursday night in St. Edward. Murray totaled 21 assists in a 25-16, 25-20 win.
It's just what third-year Harvest coach Mike Bui has come to expect.
"She is able to run the show as a senior which is awesome," Bui said. "We're not good if she's not good. She's been a great leader right now. Biggest heart on the team."
Harvest Christian (1-0) is starting a pair of freshmen, Addison Nava and Hayley Martin.
Nava debuted with 5 kills, part of a balanced attack that included Jimena Montano (5 kills), Maya Jenkins (6 kills) and Madison Pfister (6 kills).
"It was an OK first game but we definitely have things to work on," said Montano, a senior and veteran from the state team. "We just want to step up and do the job for the younger girls so they know what to do next year."
Zoe Pawelek led the Lions defensively with 17 digs.
Harvest missed 10 serves, though that didn't bother Bui.
"Today was more of getting a feel of what we need to continue to work on this season," Bui said. "Today doesn't dictate what happens in November and our goal is November. We have to get better every day. Our goal was to stay aggressive serving."
Harvest never trailed in the opening set. Jenkins opened the match with a kill on the first point, put another ball down two points later, and Montano followed with a kill for a quick 4-0 lead.
St. Edward coach Mattie Boyd called timeout down 11-4 after a winner from Pfister, and the Lions led comfortably the rest of the set before closing it out on a big swing from Jenkins.
The second set went better for St. Edward who took its biggest lead at 7-4 on an ace from Maeve Jackson. Murray set Martin for a kill that pulled Harvest even at 10, and Martin tooled a ball that put the Lions ahead to stay at 14-13.
Pfister won a 50-50 ball at the net for a 19-15 Harvest lead. St. Edward misfired on a couple serves late including one that went long on match point.
St. Edward had a balanced attack with Erin Kremer leading the way with 4 kills.
St. Edward (1-1) also is young with just one senior, Kremer. Boyd was encouraged that after missing 13 serves against Larkin, St. Edward cut the number to 7.
"This was better than our first match so I'm happy with that," Boyd said. "It's getting used to the fast-paced game and figuring out what's going on. We're not even worrying about who we are playing. We're building.
"It's just the basics. It's about getting them confidence. They were watching them (Harvest) warm up and it was 'oh my gosh.' Understanding that both teams mess up. We just have to be the team that makes less errors. It's focus on yourself and trying to get better every day."