Volleyball: Flint Hill Sweeps Broad Run

Though the Flint Hill volleyball team earned its third shut-out victory of the 2012 season Wednesday night, the Huskies had a bumpy ride to their three-set sweep of Broad Run.

The Huskies started each set down, but came back in each to show a resilience that boosts Coach Carrol Anderson's confidence in how they will handle pressure situations in the future. 

"We started off slow, and I wasn't very happy on the bench. We were hurting ourselves, making a lot of errors just because we weren't ready to play," Anderson said. "We stayed calm, kept our composure. Those are good signs, especially with several young players, that they're able to keep their composure and not give up."

Outscored 10-4 to start the match, the Huskies made an 8-1 run to take the lead then never look back in the first set. They took the set 25-18.

Though the Huskies started down in the second set, they remained close for the majority. Their largest deficit came toward the middle of the set where they stood five points down after a scoring spree from the Spartans. But the Huskies went on a spree of their own to tie the Spartans, then win 27-25 after a Tug-of-War for the lead. 

The third set went smoother for the Huskies, despite starting the set at a 2-0 disadvantage. The Huskies took a 10-point lead — the largest of the match — to stand two points away from winning. But the Spartans started a rally of their own to cut the lead in half. The Huskies finished the third set with a 25-18 final score to improve their record to 8-1. 

"We were in control of most of the third set, and I kept telling them between sets that's what we needed to do. We just need to work on getting control earlier," Anderson said. "They're starting to play together, though. I saw a lot of good things, but we'll continue to work on some of those things, especially defense, that we're still struggling with. But it's still early. We don't want to be at our best just yet." 

Ally Ford led the Huskies in kills with 11, and also added 14 digs and two aes. Haley McClure added 10 kills, five digs and two aces, while Erica Narel notched eight kills and five blocks. Gracie Anderson hit double-digits in digs with 13. 

The Huskies will face another public school opponent this week, traveling down the road to Oakton High for a 4:30 p.m. Friday match against the Cougars (10-4).

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