Lady Hawks sweep Troy

There was a given consistency in the Thompson Falls Lady Hawks’ 3-0 win over visiting Troy in a Montana high school volleyball match last Tuesday.

It was a given that the Lady Hawks would start and finish strong.

It was a given that the Lady Trojans were outgunned and outmatched from the start.

And it was a given that another sweep was in the making for Thompson Falls.

All three givens proved true as the Lady Hawks improved their season record to 6-1 with another sweep of the ladies of Troy.

The first set was a harbinger of things to come when the host team jumped to a quick early lead and built on it the rest of the way in a lopsided 25-9 win that gave them a 1-0 match lead.

The second set, although similar in outcome to the first, showed Troy was not just showing up, but doing what it could to fight a superior opponent on their home court.

For a brief time the Lady Trojans actually held the lead, at 4-2, before the Lady Hawks reached for another gear and tied the match at 9-9 and took the lead a point later.

From there the Lady Hawks rolled off 10 straight points, including a pair of vicious kill shots by senior Avery Burgess, to take a safe 19-9 lead before Troy could interrupt their run. The interruption lasted only one point and in a flash Thompson Falls was up 21-11.

The Lady Hawks won four of the final five points to grab a 25-15 set win and take a seemingly insurmountable 2-0 match lead.

Unfortunately for Troy, that 10-point deficit was as close as they would come the rest of the evening to challenging the Lady Hawks.

TFalls opened the third set with a 3-0 start, then rolled off another 10 points in a row as they built a 13-1 point at the midway mark of the third set.

Troy could come no closer the rest of the way, eventually falling 25-10 in set three. That gave the Lady Hawks another 3-0 match sweep and upped their overall record this year to 6-1.

The loss dropped Troy to 0-8 for the year.

Burgess finished with a match-high eight kills and had one block for the night. Ellie Baxter also had a solid game with 19 assists and two digs.